Author: Verified News Online

AdvertisementWomen and genderChinaPolitics‘Digital public shaming’: Chinese AI tools under fire for pornographic deepfakesGrass-roots group warns AI platforms have ‘sacrificed women’s right to safety’ as non-consensual sexualised images proliferate
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPMeredith ChenPublished: 6:00pm, 26 Feb 2026Chinese AI tools have come under fire for allowing deepfake images that critics say are a form of “digital public shaming” targeting women.Free Nora, a grass-roots feminist media collective in China, reported last week that many internet users had been exploiting the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Doubao to generate non-consensual pornographic images of real women.“In the shadowy corners of social media, a large-scale ‘digital public shaming’ campaign targeting ordinary women has quietly unfolded, fuelled by Doubao,” said a social media article published by the group, which focuses on women’s rights and policy advocacy.AdvertisementDoubao, owned by t..

Bill Gates apologises to foundation staff over Jeffrey Epstein ties

American tech entrepreneur Bill Gates has apologised to staff at the Gates Foundation over his past ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while maintaining that he did “nothing illicit,” according to media reports.The Microsoft co-founder acknowledged in a town hall meeting that his association with Epstein was a “huge mistake” and said it had cast a cloud over the philanthropic organisation’s reputation.“I did nothing illicit,” Gates tells staffAccording to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal, Gates told employees during the town hall: “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit.”“To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” he added, as per the Journal report.Gates said that images in the recently released “Epstein files” showing him with women whose faces are redacted were photographs that Epstein had asked him to take with his assistants after meetings.“I apolo..

Egyptian authorities arrested a tour guide after a viral video showed him drawing on the Pyramid of Unas in Saqqara/Image: Screenshot of X video A tour guide has been arrested in Egypt after a video showed him drawing on the exterior stones of the Pyramid of Unas while explaining details to tourists. The incident took place at the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo and prompted an investigation by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior. The development was reported by Egypt Today.The Pyramid of Unas is one of Egypt’s most historically significant monuments. It dates back to the Old Kingdom and is around 4,400 to 4,500 years old. It is widely known as the earliest pyramid to contain pyramid texts and forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Saqqara site.What happened at the site
According to the ministry’s statement, the Saqqara Tourist Police Station received a report from a local antiquities inspector. The inspector stated that the guide had drawn markings on the outer casing stones o..

AdvertisementIranWorldMiddle EastIranians on edge as Trump’s US ‘armada’ closes in: ‘a war will start’‘Going to war with America, Israel and Nato will have very horrible and unpredictable consequences,’ a Tehran resident says
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAssociated PressPublished: 5:52pm, 25 Feb 2026Updated: 6:08pm, 25 Feb 2026As the United States assembles its greatest military firepower in decades in the Middle East, Iranians are warily awaiting the next round of talks with the US in Geneva this week – negotiations that many see as a last chance for their ruling theocracy to strike a deal with US President Donald Trump.
Some say the situation feels hopeless. Battered by decades of sanctions, heightened by Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, Iranians also just suffered through the bloodiest crackdown on dissent in the country’s modern history.
Still, Iran heads into the Thursday talks “with a determination to achieve a fair an..