Fake videos of Modi aides trigger political showdown in India election

The social media chief of India’s opposition Congress Party has been arrested over accusations he misleadingly doctored a widely shared video of Amit Shah, police said on Saturday. (AFP)
The social media chief of India’s opposition Congress Party has been arrested over accusations he misleadingly doctored a widely shared video of Amit Shah, police said on Saturday. (AFP)
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Updated 05 May 2024
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Fake videos of Modi aides trigger political showdown in India election

Fake videos of Modi aides trigger political showdown in India election
  • Congress social media coordinator arrested by Delhi police

BENGALURU, LUCKNOW: Manipulated videos are taking center stage as campaigning heats up in India’s election, with fake clips involving two top aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi triggering police investigations and the arrest of some workers of his rival Congress Party.

In what has been dubbed as India’s first AI election, Modi said last week fake voices were being used to purportedly show leaders making “statements that we have never even thought of,” calling it a conspiracy “to create tension in society.”
Indian police — already investigating the spread of fake videos showing Bollywood actors criticizing Modi — are now investigating a doctored online clip that showed Federal Home Minister Amit Shah saying the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will stop certain social guarantees for minorities, a subject sensitive for millions of voters.
Shah retorted on X, posting his “original” and the edited “fake” speech and alleging — without providing any evidence — that the main opposition Congress was behind the video it created to mislead the public. The minister said “directions have been issued to the police to address this issue.”
Indian police arrested at least nine people, including six members of Congress’ social media teams, in the states of Assam, Gujarat, Telangana and New Delhi last week for circulating the fake video, according to police statements.
Five of the Congress workers were released on bail, but the most high-profile arrest made by the cyber crime unit of New Delhi police came on Friday, when they detained a Congress national social media coordinator, Arun Reddy, for sharing the video. New Delhi is one region where Shah’s ministry directly controls police. Reddy has been sent into three-day custody.
The arrest has sparked protests from Congress workers with many posting on X using the #ReleaseArunReddy tag. Congress lawmaker Manickam Tagore said the arrest was an example of “authoritarian misuse of power by the regime.”
Congress’ head of social media, Supriya Shrinate, did not respond to messages and an email seeking comment.
India’s election from April 19 to June 1 will be the world’s largest democratic event.
With nearly a billion voters and more than 800 million internet users, tackling the spread of misinformation is a high stakes job. It involves round-the-clock monitoring by police and election officials who often issue take down orders to Facebook and X as investigations start.
In India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, more than 500 people keep tabs on online content, flagging controversial posts and coordinating with social media companies for their removal when needed, police chief Prashant Kumar told Reuters on Saturday.
Another fake video that sparked a storm last week showed Yogi Adityanath, the state’s chief minister, criticizing Modi for not doing enough for families of those who died in a 2019 militant attack.

 


King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant

King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant
Updated 11 sec ago
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King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant

King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant
  • Visit highlights royal couple’s support for interfaith initiatives

LONDON: Britain’s King Charles III joked on Wednesday he was past his “sell-by date” as he and Queen Camilla helped pack food donation boxes for charity at Darjeeling Express, an Indian restaurant in Soho, ahead of Ramadan.

The British monarch and his wife visited the female-run restaurant, founded by British restaurateur Asma Khan, to support its initiative of cooking for charitable causes during the Muslim holy month.

Camilla assisted staff in packing biryani meals for Doorstep, a charity aiding families in temporary housing.

As she ladled food into a takeaway box, she joked: “Is that enough, or some more? They might still be a bit hungry after my portion.”

Charles, who was initially occupied with meeting guests, joined in with meal preparation, asking: “Is it chicken and proper basmati rice?” He was delighted to learn that some curry would be sent to Buckingham Palace for him.

The king and queen later packed dates into bags for iftar meals to be served in hospitals.

When Charles noticed the speed of the process, he laughed: “We don’t waste time. Paid by results!” Khan was impressed by their teamwork, saying: “You are packing them faster than I can seal them. I never realized this was such a speedy couple.”

The visit highlighted the royal couple’s long-standing support for interfaith initiatives in Britain and abroad, continuing Charles’ tradition of engaging with different religious communities across the UK and the Commonwealth.


EU urges ‘respect’ for court sentence against Bosnian Serb leader

EU urges ‘respect’ for court sentence against Bosnian Serb leader
Updated 35 sec ago
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EU urges ‘respect’ for court sentence against Bosnian Serb leader

EU urges ‘respect’ for court sentence against Bosnian Serb leader
  • “The EU expects all political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to respect the decisions of the courts,” a European Commission spokesman said
  • Russia has slammed the verdict as “political“

BRUSSELS: The European Union Thursday urged all sides in Bosnia to respect court rulings and avoid “divisive” actions after the head of the country’s Serb region was sentenced to jail for defying an international envoy.
“The EU expects all political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to respect the decisions of the courts and acknowledge their independence and impartiality without applying any pressure or interference,” a European Commission spokesman said.
Brussels urges all actors to “refrain from and renounce provocative, divisive rhetoric and actions, including questioning the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the country,” spokesman Anouar El Anouni told reporters.
Under a 1995 peace agreement, Bosnia is split into two autonomous bodies — a Bosniak-Croat federation and a Serb entity, connected by a weak central government under supervision by an international high representative.
Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian leader of the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS), was sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday for failing to comply with decisions made by the high representative, Christian Schmidt.
Russia has slammed the verdict as “political,” and Bosnian Serb lawmakers were weighing potential measures in response.
The EU has previously warned that challenging the terms of the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended Bosnia’s intercommunal war would threaten the country’s ambitions to join the bloc.
“The European Union is unequivocally committed to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU perspective as a single, united and sovereign country,” El Anouni said.
“We encourage all political actors to focus on the EU path, and this for the benefit of citizens, a large majority of whom do support EU integration,” he added.


Over 500,000 Afghans displaced due to climate disasters in 2024: IOM

Over 500,000 Afghans displaced due to climate disasters in 2024: IOM
Updated 48 min 34 sec ago
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Over 500,000 Afghans displaced due to climate disasters in 2024: IOM

Over 500,000 Afghans displaced due to climate disasters in 2024: IOM
  • “Nearly 9 million individuals were impacted by climate hazards in the last 12 months,” according to the IOM report
  • “Roughly three in five of those displaced relocated elsewhere within their province of origin“

KABUL: More than half a million people in Afghanistan were displaced due to climate disasters in 2024, the International Organization for Migration said in a country report published on Tuesday.
“Nearly 9 million individuals were impacted by climate hazards in the last 12 months, with over 500,000 displaced by floods, drought, and other disasters,” according to the IOM report.
“Roughly three in five of those displaced relocated elsewhere within their province of origin,” with the western Herat and Farah provinces among the hardest hit, it said.
This week, 39 people were killed due to floods, hail and storms in southwestern Afghanistan, mainly in Farah, according to local authorities.
Afghanistan is among the poorest countries in the world after decades of war and is ranked the sixth most vulnerable to climate change, which is spurring extreme weather.
Drought, floods, land degradation and declining agricultural productivity are key threats, according to the United Nations.
Flash floods last May killed hundreds and swamped swaths of agricultural land in Afghanistan, where 80 percent of people depend on farming to survive.
“Over 11 million people in Afghanistan are at high risk of severe impacts from climate-induced disasters in the future,” the IOM said.
The UN agency estimates that “climate-sensitive livelihoods, like subsistence farming, make up 73 percent of jobs in Afghanistan.”
It added that “92 percent of villages have limited access to emergency services” and “96 percent lack resources for crucial measures like early warning systems and search and rescue.”


WHO decides mpox epidemic still global health emergency

WHO decides mpox epidemic still global health emergency
Updated 59 min 23 sec ago
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WHO decides mpox epidemic still global health emergency

WHO decides mpox epidemic still global health emergency
  • “The mpox upsurge continues to meet the criteria of a public health emergency of international concern,” said WHO
  • The decision was “based on the continuing rise in numbers and geographic spread”

GENEVA: Mpox remains an international public health emergency, the World Health Organization said Thursday after deciding the epidemic still merits the highest level of alert, with cases rising and its geographic spread widening.
“The mpox upsurge continues to meet the criteria of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC),” said a WHO statement.
The emergency committee on mpox met for the third time on Tuesday and advised WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the situation still constituted a PHEIC.
The decision was “based on the continuing rise in numbers and geographic spread, the violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo — which hampers the response — as well as a lack of funding to implement the response plan,” said the brief statement.
Tedros concurred with the committee’s advice, extending the PHEIC first declared on August 14 last year.
A PHEIC is the highest level of alarm under the International Health Regulations, which are legally binding on 196 countries.
The UN health agency’s chief had declared the emergency amid a rapid spread of the disease, formerly known as monkeypox, in Africa and especially in the DR Congo.
Mpox is caused by a virus from the same family as smallpox. It can be transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed between people through close physical contact.
The disease, which was first detected in humans in 1970 in the DR Congo, then known as Zaire, causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, and can be deadly.
It has two subtypes: clade 1 and clade 2.
The virus, long endemic in central Africa, gained international prominence in May 2022 when clade 2 spread around the world, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men.
Nearly 128,000 mpox cases have been laboratory confirmed across 130 countries since then, including 281 deaths, WHO data shows.
The WHO declared a global health emergency in July 2022, but thanks to vaccination and awareness drives that helped stem the spread, that declaration was lifted in May 2023.
Just a year later, however, a new two-pronged epidemic broke out mainly in the DR Congo, with both the original clade 1a strain and a new strain, clade 1b.
This prompted the WHO’s new emergency declaration last August.
To date, community spread of the clade 1b strain has been confirmed in the DRC and five other African nations, and it has been detected in another 15 countries around the world in connection with travel, WHO data shows.
The DRC confirmed more than 13,000 mpox cases and 43 deaths in 2024, and the country confirmed more than 2,000 cases in the first five weeks of this year — more than half of the cases confirmed globally.


Germany jails two Afghans in suspected Sweden attack plot

Germany jails two Afghans in suspected Sweden attack plot
Updated 27 February 2025
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Germany jails two Afghans in suspected Sweden attack plot

Germany jails two Afghans in suspected Sweden attack plot
  • They were found guilty of plotting to “kill members of parliament... in response to the burning of Qur'an in Sweden,” the higher regional court said
  • Ibrahim M. G., 30, was sentenced to five years and six months in jail, and Ramin N., 24, received a sentence of four years and two months

BERLIN: Two Afghan men linked to the Daesh group were jailed in Germany on Thursday for planning an attack on the Swedish parliament in retaliation for Qur'an burnings by protesters.
The two suspects, identified as Ibrahim M. G. and Ramin N., had allegedly tried but failed to buy guns for the plot.
They were found guilty of plotting to “kill members of parliament... in response to the burning of Qur'an in Sweden,” the higher regional court in Thuringia said in a statement.
Ibrahim M. G., 30, was sentenced to five years and six months in jail, and Ramin N., 24, received a sentence of four years and two months.
The defendants, who arrived in Germany in 2015 and 2016 respectively, were Daesh sympathizers who “shared the Daesh worldview and endorsed (its) violent approach,” the court said.
In August 2023, Ibrahim M. G. became a member of the Daesh-Khorasan (Daesh-K), an offshoot of Daesh, the court said.
The two men hatched a plot to “kill members of parliament and anyone who tried to stop the attack with firearms in the area of the Swedish parliament,” the court said.
They had searched the Internet for locations in Stockholm, how to travel to Sweden and how to acquire firearms.
They had also traveled to the Czech Republic to purchase firearms on the black market but the plan had fallen through.
They were arrested in the Gera area of eastern Germany in March 2024.
Both men were found guilty of plotting to commit a crime. Ibrahim M.G. was also convicted of being a member of a terrorist organization, and Ramin N. of supporting a terrorist organization.
Daesh-K was “an especially dangerous terrorist organization whose attacks and atrocities were known to and endorsed by the defendants,” the court said.
Prior to the plot, Ibrahim M. G. was also found to have arranged for 200 euros ($210) to be transferred to an Iranian bank account for the support of women and children of Daesh fighters at the Al-Hol camp in Syria.
Ibrahim M. G. made a full confession during the trial.
Islamist extremists have committed several attacks in Germany in recent years, the deadliest being a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016 that killed 12 people.
Islamist motives are also suspected in several recent stabbings and car ramming attacks blamed on migrants in Germany, which have led to a bitter debate on migration.
In October 2023, German prosecutors charged two Syrian brothers for planning an attack inspired by Daesh at a church in Sweden over Qur'an burnings.
A series of Qur'an burnings were held across Sweden in 2023, mainly by immigration opponents, sparking outrage in the Muslim world.