AFP USA

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an emergency law that allows domestic deployment of the military, as protests roil Minnesota after a federal agent shot dead a woman last week. Tensions rose further overnight and more protests broke out as another person was shot and wounded by a federal agent in the frigid northern city that is a Democratic stronghold.Trump reacted on his social media platform Truth Social with his latest threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 19th century law that allows the president to deploy soldiers for law enforcement purposes to put down unrest deemed to be an insurrection. It has not been used in more than 30 years.In recent months Trump has threatened several times to use the law as he reacted angrily to protests and court decisions blocking his drive to deploy the National Guard in his muscled crackdown on illegal immigration.But so far he has stopped short of resorting to the law as he presses an agenda that has drawn accusations of authoritarian overreach and periodic mass rallies with the mantra “No Kings.””If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT…and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump posted on social media.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, addressing reporters outside the White House, declined to say if she thinks Trump should invoke the law.”I think that the President has that opportunity in the future. It’s his constitutional right, and it’s up to him if he wants to utilize it to do it,” Noem said. Asked if Trump is likely to take this major step, she said “I don’t know.”Tensions rose further as an immigration agent shot and injured a man in Minneapolis Wednesday evening, triggering further protests.The shooting marked the second time in a week an ICE agent had shot someone in Minneapolis.The previous shooting resulted in the death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on January 7. This sparked ongoing protests and a surge of federal agents into the northern US city.Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooting late Wednesday resulted from a struggle between an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and a man he was trying to apprehend.”During the struggle, the federal agent discharged his weapon, striking one adult male,” O’Hara told reporters at a press conference.Amid the tussle, two people emerged from a nearby residence and attacked the federal agent with a snow shovel and a broom handle, the Department of Homeland Security said, identifying the wounded man as an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.The man suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg and was transported to a hospital for treatment, while the two others were taken into custody, officials said.  The Insurrection Act was last invoked in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush at the request of the Republican governor of California, who was facing unprecedented riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers who had beaten Rodney King, a Black motorist, the previous year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lashed out Thursday at world leaders who he said were seeking to “put international cooperation on deathwatch” amid brazen violations of international law, but held off naming offending countries.He also reiterated that he was “deeply concerned about the violent repression in Iran,” ahead of an emergency Security Council meeting on the crisis scheduled for later Thursday.Guterres, who will step down at the end of 2026, was giving his last annual speech setting out his priorities for the year ahead and said the world was riven with “self-defeating geopolitical divides (and) brazen violations of international law.”He also slammed “wholesale cuts in development and humanitarian aid” — an apparent reference to deep cuts to the budgets of UN agencies made by the United States under the Trump administration’s “America First” policies. “These forces and more are shaking the foundations of global cooperation and testing the resilience of multilateralism itself,” Guterres told the General Assembly. “At a time when we need international cooperation the most, we seem to be the least inclined to use it and invest in it. Some seek to put international cooperation on deathwatch.”Guterres said the UN is “totally committed in the cause of peace in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and far beyond and tireless in delivering life-saving aid to those so desperate for support.”Those three deadly, protracted conflicts have come to define Guterres’s time at the helm of the UN, with critics arguing the organization has proved ineffective at conflict prevention.Trump has questioned the UN’s relevance and attacked its priorities. The organization’s top decision-making body, the Security Council, is paralyzed because of tensions between the United States and Russia and China, all three of which are permanent, veto-wielding members.”As we meet today, the snares of conflict have trapped millions of members of the human family in miserable, prolonged cycles of violence, hunger and displacement,” Guterres said.On Gaza, the UN chief called for humanitarian aid to “flow unimpeded” and on Ukraine he said “we must spare no effort” to stop the fighting.He also called for the resumption of talks to bring about a lasting ceasefire in Sudan.Guterres also used his wide-ranging remarks urge action against the abuse of artificial intelligence, to call for efforts to fight inequality.

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose pro-democracy movement he has sidelined since toppling her country’s leader, and whose Nobel Peace Prize he openly envies.Machado’s White House visit comes a day after Trump used glowing terms to describe his first known call with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, confirming his satisfaction with the allies of Nicolas Maduro remaining in power, for now at least.Trump called Rodriguez a “terrific person” and hailed “terrific progress” made since US special forces seized Maduro and his wife in a deadly raid.Rodriguez said the call was “productive and courteous,” and characterized by “mutual respect.””Many topics were discussed,” Trump said on social media, “including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security.”Notably absent was any mention of a political transition, an issue that Washington has recently downplayed compared to economic concerns, especially access to Venezuelan oil.Machado, who campaigned for years to end Maduro’s rule, will seek Thursday to bring the issue back into the foreground.- Nobel sharing? -Machado, 58, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her activism in pursuit of democracy in Venezuela, despite threats of imprisonment by Maduro’s government.Venezuela’s opposition has argued and presented evidence that Maduro stole the 2024 election from Machado’s party, namely candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia — claims supported by Washington.Venezuela’s electoral authorities, seen as allied with Maduro, never released data from the vote.Hundreds of people were arrested in post-election protests, and while Gonzalez Urrutia fled to Europe for asylum, Machado remained in the country in a hidden location, appearing only intermittently at rallies.She appeared in Oslo, Norway last month to collect her Nobel prize after a daring escape by boat, and has not yet returned to her home country.Trump has openly fumed about not being awarded the prize, calling it a “major embarrassment” for Norway.Machado has offered to share her award with Trump, and the president indicated she might give it to him when they meet.”I understand she wants to do that. That would be a great honor,” Trump said in a recent Fox News interview.The Nobel Institute has stressed that the prize cannot be transferred from one person to another.- Prisoner releases -Under pressure from Washington, Venezuela has released dozens of political prisoners in the past week, though hundreds remain behind bars.Rodriguez claimed a total of 406 political prisoners had been released since December in a process that “has not yet concluded.”The Foro Penal legal rights NGO, which defends many of the detainees, gave a much smaller tally of around 180 freed.AFP’s count, based on data from NGOs and opposition parties, showed 70 people released since the fall of Maduro, who has been taken to the United States to face trial for alleged drug trafficking.To avoid scenes of jubilant opposition activists punching the air as they walk free from prison, the authorities have been releasing them quietly at other locations, far from the TV cameras and relatives waiting outside detention centers.The United States on Wednesday seized another tanker in the Caribbean in its campaign to control oil leaving Venezuela.Marines and sailors apprehended the Tanker Veronica without incident in a pre-dawn raid, the US military command said on social media, with a video showing soldiers rappelling onto a vessel’s deck.”The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” it said. The tanker is the sixth seized in recent weeks.

A European military mission was taking shape in Greenland on Thursday, drawing a sharp rebuke from Russia, as Denmark said Washington still aimed to take control of the mineral-rich Arctic island.Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen insisted meanwhile that “dialogue and diplomacy are the right way forward”, hailing in a Facebook post the fact that a dialogue was now “underway”.The developments came a day after a White House meeting failed to resolve “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump insists the United States needs to ensure its security.Two Danish troop transport planes landed in Greenland on Wednesday.Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have also announced the deployment of military personnel as part of a reconnaissance mission to Greenland’s capital Nuuk, under Denmark’s “Arctic Endurance” exercise organised with NATO allies.The modest military reinforcements — 13 soldiers from Germany, for example — are meant to prepare armed forces for future exercises in the Arctic, according to European defence sources.”A first team of French service members is already on site and will be reinforced in the coming days with land, air, and maritime assets,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday.Germany’s defence ministry said the aim was to “explore the framework conditions for possible military contributions to support Denmark in ensuring security in the region”.- ‘NATO consensus’ -The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement Thursday that “a working group” was being set up to discuss how Arctic security could be improved.”However, this does not change the fact that there is a fundamental disagreement, because the American ambition to take over Greenland remains intact,” Frederiksen said, hailing the arrival of European military personnel in Greenland.”There is consensus within the NATO alliance that a strengthened presence in the Arctic is crucial for European and North American security,” she said.Trump has argued that if the United States does not take Greenland, “China or Russia will”, deriding Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to “two dogsleds”.Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.The Russian embassy in Belgium, where NATO is headquartered, said the arrival of NATO forces to Greenland was concerning.”The situation unfolding in the high latitudes is of serious concern to us,” the embassy said in a statement late Wednesday.NATO is “building up its military presence there under the false pretext of a growing threat from Moscow and Beijing”, it added. – ‘Frightening’ -On the streets of Nuuk, where red and white Greenlandic flags fly in shop windows, on apartment balconies and on cars and buses in a show of national unity, some residents have described anxiety over the geopolitical tensions.”It’s very frightening because it’s such a big thing,” said Vera Stidsen, a 51-year-old teacher.”I hope that in the future we can continue to live as we have until now: in peace and without being disturbed,” she told AFP.After attending the White House talks, Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen posted Thursday on Facebook that “We agree on the objective: enhancing long term security in the Arctic. But we disagree on the method.””This is 2026 — you can trade with people, but you don’t trade people.”After the meeting, Trump for the first time sounded conciliatory on Greenland, acknowledging Denmark’s interests even if he again said he was not ruling out any options.”I think something will work out,” Trump said.Trump has insisted Greenland is “vital” for his planned “Golden Dome” air and missile defence system, as it lies on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.

More governments vowed crackdowns Thursday to prevent Grok, the AI chatbot on Elon Musk’s X platform, from undressing or sexualizing images of real people in their jurisdictions, in a face of a growing backlash against the deepfakes. The Philippines became the third country to ban Grok altogether, following Southeast Asian neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia, while Britain and France said they would keep up the pressure.Several countries have demanded that Musk’s xAI, the developer of Grok, rein in the chatbot after it was used to generate a flood of lewd photos of women and children.X said Wednesday that it would “geoblock the ability” of all Grok and X users to create images of people in “bikinis, underwear, and similar attire” in jurisdictions where such actions are illegal.The announcement came after California’s attorney general launched an investigation into xAI over the sexually explicit material, and several countries either blocked access to Grok or opened their own probes.”We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing,” X’s safety team said, adding that the restriction applied to “all users” without exceptions.In an “extra layer of protection,” image creation and the ability to edit photos via X’s Grok account is now available only to paid subscribers, it said.”I welcome that X is now acting to ensure full compliance with UK law — it must happen immediately”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — a favourite target of Musk’s political posts — wrote Thursday on X.”If we need to strengthen existing laws further, we are prepare to do that,” Starmer warned.Meanwhile, Philippines cybercrime chief Renato Paraiso said the country’s block could be effective by the end of the day.He said X’s pledge to limit access would have no effect on the plans, adding that the government would watch to see if the platform follows through on its promises.”We need to clean the internet now because much toxic content is appearing, especially with the advent of AI,” Philippine telecommunications secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda said.- ‘Shocking’ -Grok’s so-called “Spicy Mode” allowed users to create deepfakes using simple text prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes.”An analysis of more than 20,000 Grok-generated images by AI Forensics, a Paris-based nonprofit, found that more than half depicted “individuals in minimal attire” — most of them women, and two percent appearing to be minors.The European Commission, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog, had said it will “carefully assess” additional measures taken by X to ensure “they effectively protect citizens.””France and Europe taking action… is producing results,” Paris’s digital minister Anne Le Henanff told AFP on Thursday, warning that “no platform is above the law”.Her British counterpart Liz Kendall said in a statement that she welcomed X’s move — while backing an investigation by media watchdog Ofcom into whether the images breached British law.California Governor Gavin Newsom had said that xAI’s “vile” decision to allow sexually explicit deepfakes to proliferate prompted him to urge the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, to hold the company accountable.”We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material,” Bonta said Wednesday.He added that the California investigation would determine whether xAI violated state law after the explicit imagery was “used to harass people across the internet.”- Posts removed -Adding further pressure onto Musk’s company Wednesday, a coalition of 28 civil society groups submitted open letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google, urging them to ban Grok and X from their app stores amid the surge in sexualized images.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.On Thursday, Malaysia’s communications minister said national regulators had found that X’s steps to prevent Grok generating indecent images were “not done in totality.”If X can successfully deactivate and prevent the generation of such online content considered harmful, Malaysia will lift the temporary restriction on Grok, Fahmi Fadzil said.

Washington’s ambition to take control of Greenland remained intact, Denmark said on Thursday, as a European military mission arrived on the mineral-rich strategic Arctic island, drawing a sharp rebuke from Russia.The developments came a day after a high-level meeting at the White House failed to resolve “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory that President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Washington needs to seize to ensure US security.The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement Thursday that “a working group” was being set up to discuss how Arctic security could be improved.”However, this does not change the fact that there is a fundamental disagreement, because the American ambition to take over Greenland remains intact,” Frederiksen said.”This is obviously a serious matter, and we are therefore continuing our efforts to prevent this scenario from becoming a reality,” she added.The head of government’s comment came as European military personnel had begun arriving in Greenland.France, Sweden, Germany and Norway announced Wednesday that they would deploy military personnel as part of a reconnaissance mission to Greenland’s capital Nuuk.”Soldiers of NATO are expected to be more present in Greenland from today and in the coming days. It is expected that there will be more military flights and ships,” Greenland’s deputy prime minister Mute Egede told a news conference on Wednesday, adding they would be “training”.Germany’s defence ministry said Thursday that the reconnaissance mission to Greenland by several European NATO members aims “to explore options for ensuring security in light of Russian and Chinese threats in the Arctic”.”The first French military personnel are already on their way. Others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on X.Trump has argued that if the United States does not take Greenland, “China or Russia will”.The Russian embassy in Belgium, where NATO is headquartered, said the arrival of NATO forces to Greenland was concerning.”The situation unfolding in the high latitudes is of serious concern to us,” the embassy said in a statement published late Wednesday.NATO is “building up its military presence there under the false pretext of a growing threat from Moscow and Beijing,” the embassy added.- ‘Good relationship’ -After leaving the White House on Wednesday Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said a US takeover of Greenland was “absolutely not necessary.””We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Lokke told reporters.He also noted that “there are no Chinese warships along the coast of Greenland”.”Nor are there any massive Chinese investments in Greenland,” he told the Danish press after the meeting.Trump, speaking after the meeting which he did not attend, for the first time sounded conciliatory on Greenland, acknowledging Denmark’s interests even if he again said he was not ruling out any options.”I have a very good relationship with Denmark, and we’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out,” Trump said without explaining further.He again said Denmark was powerless if Russia or China wanted to occupy Greenland, but added: “There’s everything we can do.”- Live ‘in peace’ -On the streets of Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity this week.Some residents described anxiety from finding themselves at the centre of the geopolitical spotlight.”It’s very frightening because it’s such a big thing,” said Vera Stidsen, 51, a teacher in Nuuk.”I hope that in the future we can continue to live as we have until now: in peace and without being disturbed,” Stidsen told AFP.

Four International Space Station crewmembers splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, NASA footage showed, after the first ever medical evacuation in the orbital lab’s history.A video feed from NASA showed the capsule carrying American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui land off the coast of San Diego at 12:41 am (0841 GMT).”On behalf of SpaceX and NASA, welcome home,” mission control told the crew moments after landing.”It’s so good to be home, with deep gratitude to the teams that got us there and back,” Cardman replied.A health issue prompted their mission to be cut short, after spending five months in space.The US space agency has declined to disclose any details about the health issue but stressed the return was not an emergency situation.The affected crewmember “is doing fine,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told reporters after the splashdown.Isaacman said only that the crewmember experienced “a serious medical condition” that “could have happened on Earth completely outside of the microgravity environment.”He said all crewmembers are safe, in good spirits and were undergoing standard post-arrival medical checks.”They just executed… a near-perfect mission on orbit,” Isaacman said.Fincke, the SpaceX Crew-11 pilot, shared a similar message in a social media post earlier this week: “First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for.””This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet.”The Crew-11 quartet arrived at the ISS in early August and had been scheduled to stay onboard the space station until they were rotated out in mid-February with the arrival of the next crew.James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, previously said “lingering risk” and a “lingering question as to what that diagnosis is” led to the decision to bring back the crew earlier than originally scheduled.- Ready for the unexpected – The crew conducted a little under 900 hours of experiments during its 167 days in orbit, said Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.American astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who arrived at the station in November aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, remained on the ISS.The Russian Roscosmos space agency operates alongside NASA on the outpost, and the two agencies take turns transporting a citizen of the other country to and from the orbiter — one of the few areas of bilateral cooperation that still endure between the United States and Russia.Continuously inhabited since 2000, the International Space Station seeks to showcase multinational cooperation, bringing together Europe, Japan, the United States and Russia.Located some 400 kilometers (248.5 miles) above Earth, the ISS functions as a testbed for research that supports deeper space exploration — including eventual missions to return humans to the Moon and onward to Mars.The four astronauts who were evacuated had been trained to handle unexpected medical situations, said Amit Kshatriya, a senior NASA official, praising how they have dealt with the situation.The ISS is set to be decommissioned after 2030, with its orbit gradually lowered until it breaks up in the atmosphere over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, a spacecraft graveyard.

Elon Musk’s platform X announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, but the Philippines on Thursday said it would become the latest country to block the online tool in a growing global backlash.Pressure had been building on Musk’s xAI, the developer of Grok, to rein in the chatbot after it was used to generate a flood of lewd photos of women and children.The company’s announcement came after California’s attorney general launched an investigation into xAI over the sexually explicit material, and multiple countries either blocked access to Grok or opened their own probes.X said Wednesday it will “geoblock the ability” of all Grok and X users to create images of people in “bikinis, underwear, and similar attire” in those jurisdictions where such actions are deemed illegal.”We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing,” X’s safety team said, adding that the restriction applied to “all users” without exceptions.In an “extra layer of protection,” image creation and the ability to edit photos via X’s Grok account was now only available to paid subscribers, they added.But the Philippines said Thursday it planned to block Grok nationwide, joining Southeast Asian neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia.”By tonight or within today, we are expecting (Grok) to be blocked in the entire Philippines,” Renato Paraiso, acting executive director of the country’s cybercrime center, told AFP.He said X’s pledge to limit access would have no effect on the plans, adding that the government would watch to see if the platform follows through on its promises.”We need to clean the internet now because much toxic content is appearing, especially with the advent of AI,” Philippine telecommunications secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda said.- ‘Shocking’ -Grok’s so-called “Spicy Mode” feature allowed users to create deepfakes using simple text prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes.”An analysis of more than 20,000 Grok-generated images by Paris non-profit AI Forensics found that more than half depicted “individuals in minimal attire” — most of them women, and two percent appearing to be minors.The European Commission, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog, had said it would “carefully assess” additional measures taken by X to stop the deluge to ensure “they effectively protect citizens.”California Governor Gavin Newsom said that xAI’s “vile” decision to allow sexually explicit deepfakes to proliferate prompted him to urge the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta to hold the company accountable.”The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta said on Wednesday.”We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material.”Bonta said the California investigation would determine whether xAI violated state law after the explicit imagery was “used to harass people across the internet.”- Posts removed -Adding further pressure onto Musk’s company Wednesday, a coalition of 28 civil society groups submitted open letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google, urging them to ban Grok and X from their app stores amid the surge in sexualized images.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.On Thursday, Malaysia’s communications minister said national regulators had found that X’s steps to prevent Grok generating indecent images were “not done in totality.”If X can successfully deactivate and prevent the generation of such online content considered harmful, Malaysia will lift the temporary restriction imposed on Grok, Minister Fahmi Fadzil said.India has said X removed thousands of posts and hundreds of user accounts in response to its complaints.And Britain’s Ofcom media regulator on Thursday called X’s new measures a “welcome development.””However, our formal investigation remains ongoing,” an Ofcom spokesperson said, referring to a probe it announced this week into whether X failed to comply with British law over the sexual images.

Elon Musk’s platform X on Wednesday announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, following global backlash over its generation of sexualized photos of women and children.The announcement comes after California’s attorney general launched an investigation into Musk’s xAI — the developer of Grok — over the sexually explicit material and multiple countries either blocked access to the chatbot or launched their own probes.X said it will “geoblock the ability” of all Grok and X users to create images of people in “bikinis, underwear, and similar attire” in those jurisdictions where such actions are deemed illegal.”We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis,” X’s safety team said.”This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”In an “extra layer of protection,” image creation and the ability to edit photos via X’s Grok account was now only available to paid subscribers, the statement added.The European Commission, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog, earlier said it had taken note of “additional measures X is taking to ban Grok from generating sexualised images of women and children.””We will carefully assess these changes to make sure they effectively protect citizens in the EU,” European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said.- ‘Shocking’ -Pressure had been building on xAI to rein in Grok after its so-called “Spicy Mode” feature allowed users to create sexualized deepfakes using simple text prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes.””The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said earlier Wednesday.”We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material.”Bonta said the California investigation would determine whether xAI violated state law after the explicit imagery was “used to harass people across the internet.”California Governor Gavin Newsom said that xAI’s “vile” decision to allow sexually explicit deepfakes to proliferate prompted him to urge the attorney general to hold the company accountable.Further adding pressure onto Musk’s company Wednesday, a coalition of 28 civil society groups submitted open letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google, urging them to ban Grok and X from their app stores amid the surge in sexualized images.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with neighboring Malaysia following the next day.On Thursday, Malaysia’s communications minister said national regulators had found that X’s steps to prevent Grok generating indecent images were “not done in totality”.If X can successfully deactivate and prevent the generation of such online content considered harmful, Malaysia will lift the temporary restriction imposed on Grok, minister Fahmi Fadzil said.India has said X removed thousands of posts and hundreds of user accounts in response to its complaints.And Britain’s Ofcom media regulator said Monday it was opening a probe into whether X failed to comply with UK law over the sexual images.Last week, an analysis of more than 20,000 Grok-generated images by Paris non-profit AI Forensics found that more than half depicted “individuals in minimal attire” — most of them women, and two percent appearing to be minors.

Four crewmembers were expected to splash down on Earth Thursday after a health issue prompted their mission to the International Space Station to be cut a month short — the first such medical evacuation in the orbital lab’s history.A video feed from NASA showed American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui undocking from the ISS at 2220 GMT Wednesday, after five months in space.The US space agency has declined to disclose which crewmember has the health problem or give details about the issue, but it has stressed the return is not an emergency situation.The affected crewmember “was and continues to be in stable condition,” NASA official Rob Navias said Wednesday.The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the four crewmembers is scheduled to splash down off the California coast at around 0840 GMT Thursday.”First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe, and well cared for,” Fincke, the pilot of SpaceX Crew-11, said previously on a social media.”This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It’s the right call, even if it’s a bit bittersweet,” he added in the post this week.The Crew-11 quartet arrived at the ISS in early August and had been scheduled to stay onboard the space station until they were rotated out in mid-February with the arrival of the next crew.James Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, said “lingering risk” and a “lingering question as to what that diagnosis is” led to the decision to bring back the crew earlier than originally scheduled.American astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who arrived at the station in November aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, remained on the ISS.The Russian Roscosmos space agency operates alongside NASA on the outpost, and the two agencies take turns transporting a citizen of the other country to and from the orbiter — one of the few areas of bilateral cooperation that still endure between the United States and Russia.- Ready for the unexpected – Continuously inhabited since 2000, the International Space Station seeks to showcase multinational cooperation, bringing together Europe, Japan, the United States and Russia.Located some 400 kilometers (248.5 miles) above Earth, the ISS functions as a testbed for research that supports deeper space exploration — including eventual missions to return humans to the Moon and onward to Mars.The four astronauts being evacuated had been trained to handle unexpected medical situations, said Amit Kshatriya, a senior NASA official, praising how they have dealt with the situation.The ISS is set to be decommissioned after 2030, with its orbit gradually lowered until it breaks up in the atmosphere over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, a spacecraft graveyard.