More questions about Swiss fire

Summary

Global News Podcast – More Questions About Swiss Fire

Date: January 3, 2026
Host: Charlotte Gallagher (BBC World Service)

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Episode Overview

This episode provides an in-depth update on the tragic fire at the Constellation Bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, examining investigation details, human stories, and safety questions. Other topics include U.S.-Iran tensions amid nationwide protests, Argentina’s cash-hoarding crisis, why some Americans are moving to Russia, AI-generated fake images on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), and Venus Williams’ return to the Australian Open.

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1. Swiss Ski Resort Fire: Investigation and Human Toll

Key Events and Issues:

• Fire Details: The deadly fire killed 40 people and injured 119 (71 Swiss, 14 French, 11 Italians) during New Year’s celebrations at Crans-Montana.

• Probable Cause: Authorities are focusing on sparklers/candles placed on champagne bottles, brought too close to a low, foam-covered ceiling.

  • Beatrice Piloux (Attorney General):
    “Everything leads us to think that the fire started from sparkling candles or sparklers which were put on bottles of champagne.” (00:56)

• Victims & Families: Families face agonizing waits for news; severe burns make identification difficult, requiring DNA samples.

  • Letitia Brodar, searching for her missing son:
    “It’s been 30 hours since my son disappeared… I want the photo of my child to be everywhere, just in case someone recognizes him.” (02:53–03:08)

On-Scene Reporting:

• Sarah Rainsford (BBC Correspondent at Crans-Montana):
  “All day long, people here have been laying flowers outside the Constellation bar, pausing to remember the dozens who were trapped by fire… Most striking is their young age. So many of the missing and the injured are teenagers.” (03:17)

• Safety and Building Codes:

  • The suspected catalyst: Flammable polyurethane acoustic foam on the ceiling, potentially not fire-retardant.
    • Richard Haggar (UK Association of Fire Investigators):
      “…It will spread really rapidly across the ceiling.” (06:00)
    • Previous inspections hadn’t found defects, but foam insulation has been linked to other nightclub tragedies (e.g., 2003 Rhode Island fire).
  • Investigators also probing potential overcrowding and the bar’s emergency exits:
    “The only exit from the basement bar, a narrow stairway, and many couldn't get out.” (04:28)

• Regulatory Questions:
  Fire safety is enforced by local Swiss authorities, but questions remain around materials and capacity.

Memorable & Notable Quotes:

• “Within moments, though, it was raging. The only exit...a narrow stairway and many couldn't get out.” – Sarah Rainsford (04:28)
• “A chilling photo… appears to have been taken seconds after the fire started. It suggests flames had already spread to the low ceiling…” – Charlotte Gallagher quoting early evidence (05:21)

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2. Iran Protests and International Tensions

• Background: Protests erupted over economic hardship, currency collapse, and inflation. Reports of six deaths during clashes with security.

  • Protester in Tehran (anonymity preserved):
    “We don’t have any kind of liberty here. We fight every day. We face the most brutal things every day. We want to end it, even with the price of our lives.” (10:05)

• U.S. Involvement:

  • President Trump’s warning:
    “If Iran kills peaceful protesters, [the U.S.] will come to their rescue. We’re locked and loaded and ready to go.” (Paul Adams reporting, 07:44)
  • Iranian officials accuse the U.S. of adventurism and threaten retaliation.

• Iranian Political Divide:

  • Masoud Pezeshkian, Reform-Minded President:
    “People are dissatisfied. We are at fault. Don’t go after America as the one to blame.” (Paul Adams, 08:51)

• Washington Perspective:

  • Tom Bateman (Washington Correspondent):
    "I think what Mr. Trump is doing here...is try to really cajole or coerce the Iranians back to the table to do a deal with him on the nuclear issue, but on his terms—basically, a capitulation...That is all, though, a pretty high risk strategy.” (11:05–12:38)

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3. Americans Relocating to Russia

Context:

• Trend: Since Putin's expanded Ukraine invasion, most Russian movement is outward—but some U.S. families have actively moved to Russia, often for ideological reasons.

• Ricky Macy (recent U.S.-to-Russia migrant):
  “In the U.S. there’s the LGBT movement…that whole thing to me is the degradation of everything that I believe in. It goes against every American ideal I have…” (14:31)

• Propaganda Implications:

  • Fast-track migration (Decree 702) promoted by Putin’s officials for ‘shared values.’
  • Kelly Greenhill (Tufts/MIT Professor):
    “Regimes can use propaganda domestically…to distract them from things that they might be unhappy about domestically… just be used as powerful set of advertisements.” (16:22)

• Human impact:

  • The Hare family—featured in Russian state media—found real cultural challenges and family strain; two sons eventually moved back to the U.S.
    • Leo Hare: “Essentially, I did it for them, but I was just basically ignorant of the culture here… It was just a bad deal.” (17:26)

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4. Argentina: Cash Hoarding and Economic Crisis

• The Scope:
  Roughly $250 billion—six times central bank reserves—held outside banks or offshore.

  • Luis Fajardo (BBC Monitoring):
    “Argentina has a huge underground economy…even for middle-class families to have large amounts of money that do not enter the formal financial system.” (18:10)

• Historical Distrust:

  • Past government seizures of savings during crises breed deep distrust.
  • Fajardo: “People in Argentina have a very, very strong distrust of the financial system…It is not unusual for large real estate transactions to be done in cash.” (18:10)

• Policy Response:

  • President Javier Milei’s “Innocence Tax Law” allows deposits of tens of thousands of dollars with few questions, aiming to draw cash into the formal economy.
  • Critics say this may fuel money laundering and is unlikely to quickly build trust.

• Quote:
  “If this money entered the financial system…the supporters of this measure are saying it would go a long way to help strengthen…the general economic stability of the country.” (20:25)

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5. AI Image Abuse on X and Safeguarding Failures

• Incident: Grok, the AI chatbot on Elon Musk’s X, is under fire after generating sexualized images of women and minors.

• Samantha Smith (UK journalist):
  “I saw in the comments a digitally altered image of myself in a bikini… the deepfake that had been made of me… What was more startling was the number of men… blaming me… or… recreating the trend: ‘hey Grok, put her in a bikini, make her turn around…’” (21:26)

• Safeguard Gaps:

  • Jess Weatherbed (The Verge):
    “No safeguarding practices have been proved to be perfect… But you can definitely provide far more robust safeguards than what XAI is providing…It goes against the platform’s own usage policy rules. They know this.” (23:01)
  • No consent/opt-out mechanisms; users have little control over their public images.

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6. Venus Williams’ Return to the Australian Open

• Comeback Story:
  At 45, the tennis star earns a wildcard entry to the Australian Open, intriguing given her age and past dominance.
• Ricky Macy (coach):
  “VW still loves to play.… She can still hit and she still has weapons… Her legacy is cemented. People don’t look at it like that whatsoever.” (24:49; 26:09)
  • Predicts Venus and Serena may play doubles one more time.
• Legacy:
  • Debate over reputational risk is dismissed; the consensus is that Venus’ legacy is secure and her return is positive for the sport.

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Swiss Bar Fire Coverage: 00:38 – 07:04
• Iran Protests & U.S.-Iran Tensions: 07:04 – 12:38
• Americans Moving to Russia: 13:36 – 17:35
• Argentina’s Cash Crisis: 17:35 – 21:26
• AI Misuse on X (Grok): 21:26 – 24:18
• Venus Williams’ Comeback: 24:18 – 27:18

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Notable Quotes

• "Everything leads us to think that the fire started from sparkling candles or sparklers which were put on bottles of champagne." – Beatrice Piloux (00:56)
• "Within moments, though, it was raging. The only exit from the basement bar, a narrow stairway and many couldn't get out." – Sarah Rainsford (04:28)
• "We don't have any kind of liberty here. We fight every day. We want to end it, even with the price of our lives." – Iranian protester (10:05)
• “In the US there's the LGBT movement. That whole thing to me is just the degradation of everything that I believe in.” – Ricky Macy (14:31)
• "No safeguarding practices have been proved to be perfect so far, but... you can definitely provide far more robust safeguards than what XAI is providing." – Jess Weatherbed (23:01)
• "Her legacy is cemented. People don’t look at it like that whatsoever." – Ricky Macy on Venus Williams (26:09)

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Tone & Style

The reporting is urgent, empathetic, and global in scope, mixing on-the-ground details with expert analysis and powerful personal stories. The host and correspondents maintain the BBC’s authoritative yet approachable tone throughout.

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For more updates, search for 'Global News Podcast' on YouTube or your podcast app.

Transcript

[BBC Announcer]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk. At the BBC we go further so you see clearer. Through frontline reporting, global stories and local insights, we bring you closer to the world's news as it happens. And it starts with a subscription to BBC.com giving you unlimited articles and videos. Ad free podcasts the BBC News Channel streaming live 24. 7/Hi hundreds of acclaimed documentaries. Subscribe to trusted independent journalism and storytelling from the BBC. Find out [e-mail] Join.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher and in the early hours of Saturday 3rd January, these are our main stories. The latest on the investigation into the deadly fire at a Swiss station ski resort.

[Beatrice Piloux]

Everything leads us to think that the fire started from sparkling candles or sparklers which were put on bottles of champagne.

[Iranian Official]

That was moved too close to the ceiling.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Why hundreds of billions of dollars are stashed under mattresses in Argentina. As Donald Trump warns Iran, the US Will intervene to protect protesters. There's fighting talk from Tehran.

[Iranian Official]

The United States and colonialists are always.

Bullying and plundering the world.

We must steadfastly uphold our own policies.

And unite as one.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Also in this podcast. But there was this flood of emails that I kept getting from people who were like, we want to move to Russia to escape the terrible American tyranny. I was just like, oh man, guys, the graph is always green ringing at the side of the fence. The Americans moving to President Putin's Russia and US Tennis star Venus Williams compete in the Australian Open at the age of 45. A fire which killed 40 people at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crom, Montana, appears to have been caused by sparklers placed on champagne bottles that were too close to the ceiling during the New Year celebrations. Investigations are continuing, with officials saying they're focusing on the bar's safety measures, its capacity and the number of people inside. At the time of the fire. Officials said the 119 people injured included 71 Swiss citizens, 14 French nationals and 11 Italians. For those yet to hear of what has become to their loved ones, the wait is agonizing. Letitia Brodar has been searching for her son, Arthur. I must find my son and today I must go through this kind of thing to find him. It's been 30 hours since my son disappeared.

[Christina Volk]

30 hours.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

30 hours since I've had no news of my child. So now I'm on social networks.

[Christina Volk]

I started it yesterday.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

I want the photo of my child to be everywhere. Just in case.

[Christina Volk]

Just in case someone recognizes him, they.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Can call me, contact me. So that's it. Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford is at the scene of the fire.

[Sarah Rainsford]

All day long, people here have been laying flowers outside the Constellation bar, pausing to remember the dozens who were trapped by fire today. Officials said they were still working to identify the bodies, forced to use DNA samples from relatives because they were so severely burned. For the families, the process is agonising. Many have been posting images on social media, hoping their own loved ones are still alive and that someone somewhere will have news. Most striking is their young age. So many of the missing and the injured are teenagers and now prosecutors believe they know how the fire started. They've been checking phones found at the scene and questioning witnesses, focusing on images of flares stuck into champagne bottles. Beatrice Piloux is the Attorney General for Valais region.

[Beatrice Piloux]

Everything leads us to think that the.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Fire started from sparkling candles or sparklers.

[Beatrice Piloux]

Which were put on bottles of champagne.

[Iranian Official]

That was moved too close to the ceiling.

[Beatrice Piloux]

From that, a blaze began quickly, very quickly.

[Sarah Rainsford]

Other videos from inside the bar show the moment when the fire first took hold on the ceiling. And young partygoers, perhaps unaware of the huge risk, tried at first to stop it with their clothes. Within moments, though, it was raging. The only exit from the basement bar, a narrow stairway and many couldn't get out. Swiss officials will now investigate who is responsible for the enormous loss of life here, check safety measures, overcrowding and other possible violations. So far, though, few here are talking about that. All the focus is on those fighting for their lives in hospital, on identifying who exactly has died and returning their bodies to their families.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Sarah Rainsford, Investigations into the cause of the fire are likely to take some time. Our correspondent Tom Simons has been looking at the early evidence.

[Richard Haggar]

A chilling photo shared with the BBC of partygoers holding up flaming champagne bottles appears to have been taken seconds after the fire started. It suggests flames had already spread to the low ceiling in the club. The surface of the ceiling looks to have been covered with grids of black, dimpled acoustic foam. Usually fitted the sound in the room and prevent echoes. Richard Haggar, president of the UK association of Fire Investigators, believed it may have played a part.

[Beatrice Piloux]

If you look at the flames in between the grids and that really looks.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Like the start of the fire on the ceiling.

[Beatrice Piloux]

Because it looks not fire retardant, it will spread really rapidly across the ceiling.

[Richard Haggar]

Acoustic foam is usually made up of flammable polyurethane, but fire retardant versions are available. A key question will be what safety specimen were required for ceilings in the club and whether they were adhered to. Fire regulations are enforced by individual local government areas. In Switzerland, investigators said previous inspections had not identified defects. However, there is a precedent for insulation materials causing fires in nightclubs. In 2003, pyrotechnic sparks ignited during a gig at a nightclub In West Warwick, Rhode Island. In the USA. 100 people were killed. Another factor may be the speed at which the fire spread, with some witnesses describing an explosion. Experts said this might have been a flashover when hot gases from flammable material instantly ignite. Smoke from the fire may also have contributed to deaths.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Tom Simons and For more on one of today's big stories, you can go on YouTube, search for BBC News, click on the logo, then choose Podcasts and Global News Podcast. There's a new story available every weekday. Next Iranian officials have warned the US against intervention in mass protests over the cost of living. President Trump has said the US Would come to the rescue if anti government protesters were killed. Videos show clashes between demonstrators and security forces in cities across the south of the country. Six people have been killed. Our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams has this report.

[Iranian Official]

After almost a week of protests, a day of funerals across Iran. From east to west, north to south, public anger mounting amid reports of demonstrators being shot dead. Since last weekend, popular fury has been increasingly visible on Iran's streets, the Islamic authorities lashing out in response. And now Donald Trump has weighed in. If Iran kills peaceful protesters, he warns, America will come to their rescue. We're locked and loaded and ready to go. A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader hits back. The American people should know Trump started this adventurism. They should be mindful of their soldiers safety. More fighting talk at a ceremony to commemorate top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, assassinated on Donald Trump's orders six years ago.

The United States and colonialists are always.

Bullying and plundering the world.

We must steadfastly uphold our own policies.

And unite as one. But facing mounting discontent, Iran's reform minded president is trying to strike a conciliatory note. People are dissatisfied, masoud Peseschkian said yesterday. We are at fault. Don't go after America as the one to blame. It is we who must make the effort to find solutions. Solutions are urgently needed. This latest upheaval has been triggered by a collapse in currency and the soaring price of food on the back of crippling sanctions and economic mismanagement. But there's another fear looming that Israel and the United States will once more attack as they did last Summer to devastating effect. Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar a Lago earlier this week, with both men accusing Iran of ramping up production of ballistic missiles. Faced with popular unrest, Iran's hardliners have generally been ruthless in the past, With pressure coming from inside and outside the country. Which way will the regime turn now?

[Charlotte Gallagher]

That was Paul Adams. Traditionally, the usual response from the authorities to any internal dissent has been repression. But senior officials are conscious that the triggers for these latest protests have been economic. With the national currency losing nearly half its value against the dollar since September, while inflation rates are up to 42.5%. The BBC did manage to speak to one young protester in Tehran. We're not giving her name. We don't have any kind of liberty here. We fight every day. We face the most brutal things every day. We want to end it, even with the price of our lives. We start at night every day because every spot in this city has security cameras and they can spot us easily and they can silence us. So will President Trump's warnings actually result in any changes in U.S. policy? Our Washington correspondent, Tom Bateman has this assessment.

[Iranian Official]

Well, that 3:00am Social media post from Donald Trump intended for the Iranians containing a clear military threat. I think it is meant to signal to the demonstrators that they have the backing of the US President, but is also meant to deter a further violent crackdown from the Iranian security forces. All of that said, Donald Trump has in the past equivocated on the issue of US Backing for regime change in Iran. There are also pretty strong domestic political pressures against foreign entanglements and such an intervention. And, you know, I think what Donald Trump has always regarded as a red line when it comes to Iran is the issue of its nuclear ambitions. They want a policy of zero enrichment of uranium in Iran, something the Iranians see as unacceptable. And so I think what Mr. Trump is doing here and has always wanted to do is try to really cajole or coerce the Iranians back to the table to do a deal with him on the nuclear issue, but on his terms, something they have said would be on his terms, basically a capitulation. But I think the administration is looking at what is happening on the ground in Iran and sensing weakness by the regime and the potential to capitalize on that for what, what Mr. Trump wants. That is all, though, a pretty high risk strategy. We've had a response from Abbas Arachi, the Iranian foreign minister, accusing Mr. Trump being reckless and another Iranian official threatening to retaliate if there is any American military action.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Tom Bateman. Still to come in this podcast, the AI Chatbot Grok says it's working to fix lapses in its safeguards after users reported it was generating sexually explicit content of children.

[BBC Announcer]

At the BBC we go further so you see clearer. Through frontline reporting, global stories and local insights, we bring you closer to the world's news as it happens. And it starts with a subscription to BBC.com giving you unlimited articles and videos ad free podcasts, the BBC News channel streaming live 24. 7 plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries. Subscribe to trusted independent journalism and storytelling from the BBC. Find out [e-mail] Join.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

This is the Global News Podcast Hundreds of thousands of Russians are thought to have left their country since the start of Putin's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2020. But less reported is the small number of Westerners traveling in the opposite direction in search of a fresh start. Many governments actively advise their citizens not to travel to Russia, and a number of US Citizens have been detained in recent years. Our correspondent Christina Volk has been talking to families who swapped life in the US For Russia.

[Christina Volk]

In a restaurant in Russia, the Hare family is trying local dishes. Leo, Chantal and their three teenage sons are sitting around a table in ivanovo, a city 150 miles northeast of Moscow. This was shortly after arriving from their home state of Texas, seeking refuge, as they say, because they felt their way of life was under threat.

[Ricky Macy]

In the US there's the LGBT movement. That whole thing to me is just the degradation of everything that I believe in. It goes against every American ideal I have and even my religious beliefs. That's still one of the reasons why I've moved to Russia.

[Christina Volk]

After President Putin sent his troops into Ukraine in 2022, he has used his public speeches to attack the Western way of life, often portraying Russia as a rare protector of what he calls traditional values. This resonated with the heirs at the time the Heer family was granted asylum in Russia in mid 2024. Their ceremony was covered on state TV and they have since become the face of Decree 702, a fast track migration pathway based on so called shared values. It's a big system working as a.

[Jess Weatherbed]

Clock I would say.

[Christina Volk]

Maria Butina is a lawmaker with President Putin's United Russia Party. She oversees people from the west moving to Russia and claims around 200 US citizens have done so. The BBC is not able to independently verify these numbers and the US Embassy in Moscow has refused to comment. Justice Walker is a preacher and farmer from the US in the 90s as an 11 year old, his parents moved to Russia for missionary work. He moved back and forth but eventually settled in Siberia.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

I don't know what happened, but there was just this flood of emails that I kept getting from people who were like, we want to move to Russia to escape the terrible American tyranny. I was just like, oh man, guys. I mean the graph of all the green on the other side of the fence.

[Christina Volk]

Migration as a propaganda tool is a vast area and nothing new, says Kelly Greenhill, professor at Tufts and mit.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Regimes can use propaganda domestically. They can herald the fact that folks want to flee from their adversaries. That can be a way for leaders to make their populations feel better, to distract them from things that they might be unhappy about domestically. You know, just be used as powerful set of advertisements.

[Christina Volk]

Back in Ivanovo, Chantel and Leo Hair say although they became the poster family of Decree 702, they did not receive any financial benefits. Russia is trying to attract big families with a common ideology. The Hares did fit the bill and they still see their future in Russia where they also share their daily life on social media.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

And we're working on making dinner.

[Christina Volk]

Even though now two of their three sons have moved back to the US.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

We kind of put a stumbling block before them. We're sorry that it happened that way.

[Ricky Macy]

Essentially I did it for them, but I was just basically ignorant of the culture here, of the effects it would have on the family. It was just a bad deal.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Leo Hair ending that report by Christina volk. Up to $250 billion is thought to be stashed under mattresses in Argentina and hidden in offshore bank accounts. That's six times as much money as the reserves in the country's central bank. Their president wants them to be put back into the country's banking system. The so called innocence tax law ratified by Javier Milei on Friday will mean that fewer questions will be asked about where the money came from. But why is so much wealth squirreled away in the first place? Luis Far is our Latin American specialist from BBC Monitoring.

[Beatrice Piloux]

Argentina has a huge underground economy. It's very frequent even for middle class families to have very large amounts of money that do not enter the formal financial system. There's many reasons for this. Among them the memory of a couple of instances in which the previous governments actually a few decades ago during serious economic crisis, decided to seize the savings of the people to try to solve the financial crisis. So people in ARG have a very, very strong distrust of the financial system. And because of that there is a lot of Money either in foreign accounts or actually in US dollars in cash, held in people's homes. It is not entirely unusual for large real estate transactions, for example, to be done in cash. And this is part of what the government is trying to solve with this law that is providing a lot of incentives for people to put their savings back in the banks, in the formal financial system.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

What are the incentives that Javier Milei is offering people to put their money into banks?

[Beatrice Piloux]

The main incentive is that the thresholds under which you have to explain to the authorities how that money was obtained, this threshold has been raised very substantially. Now the Argentinians can deposit several tens of thousands of US dollars in bank accounts without explaining, without questions about where the money came from. And this precisely has given rise to one of the criticisms of this law. The opposition to the government of Milei is saying that this could create a situation in which money laundering becomes much easier, because one of the main things here is that authorities are going to be a lot less restrictive about asking where the money came from. There's also mechanisms by which, even if you were to be facing the threat of prosecution, if the Argentinian citizen faced with this threat, it pays the amount owed, the criminal prosecution would stop, it would be dismissed.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

And I imagine, as you said, that people have long memories and a lot of people will still not trust the government and they'll go, I'm not handing any of my money over to the bank because I don't know what will happen to it in the future.

[Beatrice Piloux]

Argentina has had, unfortunately, a very long history of financial instability, but it is seen by many people, many observers, as crucial to try to convince citizens to trust the financial system. It is said that there's nearly US$250 billion being held, as they say, under the bed of Argentinian citizens. This, to give you an idea, is nearly six times the amount of the central bank reserves. And if this money entered the financial system, the supporters of this measure are saying it would go a long way to help strengthen the Argentinian financial system and the general economic stability of the country and as a whole. However, as you say again, a lot of people in Argentina who will certainly remember other instances in which stability was promised. And in fact, a lot of people with savings saw their savings being severely affected by measures taken by previous governments. And that is what Milei again is promising not to do.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Again, Luis Fajardo, the AI Chatbot Grok, which is owned by Elon Musk, has said on X it's identified lapses in safeguards and is urgently fixing them. Users have claimed it has turned turned pictures of children and women into erotic images. Grok said improvements were being made to block orders involving images of miners, saying it was illegal. Samantha Smith, a journalist in the uk, has first hand experience of this. I saw in the comments a digitally altered image of myself in a bikini. So I posted a side by side comparison of the original image and a a screenshot of the digitally altered image, the the deep fake that had been made of me and came back to about 10 million views and hundreds of comments, many women speaking out about their own experience. But what was more startling was the number of men that were in my comments either blaming me and saying that it is my fault because I am publishing photos of myself online, or the men in my comments who were recreating the trend and doing that classic hey Grok, put her in a bikini, make her turn around, have her bend over. Grok does reject demands for nude pictures, but appears to fulfill requests to remove some items of clothing Before X announced it was tightening its rules, we asked Jess Weatherbed from the technology news website the Verge how easy it is to put safeguarding rules in place.

[Jess Weatherbed]

No safeguarding practices have been proved to be perfect so far, but we've had it proven by other AI providers like OpenAI, Google, who each have their own image generation and editing models, that you can definitely provide far more robust safeguards than what XAI is providing. Again, kind of referencing other platforms. It can be quite hard to force other platforms to generate pictures of a real person in underwear or swimwear for example, but X doesn't seem to have any issue generating requests for people in bikinis. You can upload any picture to the platform, which is fairly damning, and simply tag their chatbots and request people in miniskirts. It goes against the platform's own usage policy rules. They know this. They have that usage policy in place. Because the EU already prohibits making non consensual intimate images, we have been seeing some success with actual X users reporting any images that are being created without their consent and getting them removed. There currently isn't any permissions to opt out of these settings. If you have pictures uploaded to your X account, you're effectively giving any other user on the platform free reign to edit those images in any which way. So the best preventative simply would be to not have any images on your X account at all.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Finally, the American tennis star Venus Williams has won a wild card entry into the Australian Open, which gets underway in just over a week. She is a seven time Grand Slam winner, but hasn't competed professionally for several years and at the age of 45 is well past, past the usual retirement age for elite sports. So can she still cause a problem for players half her age? Ricky Macy trained both Venus and her sister Serena when they were teenagers. What does he make of her Australian Open bid?

[Ricky Macy]

First off, it doesn't surprise me simply because VW still loves to play. She loves to compete. And the people that run the tournament, any tournament, know that when she plays it's must see tv. The fans will be in the stands, the curiosity factor. She can still hit and she still has weapons, but she just loves to play and I think it's great for the sport.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Well, that's the thing, isn't it?

[Sarah Rainsford]

Because back in the day she was.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

Formidable and almost unbeatable.

[Sarah Rainsford]

I think Serena managed it a few times, including in the Australian Open.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

But I mean that, that's some years ago now. She would be safely considered middle aged.

[Sarah Rainsford]

Now and she's had health concerns. Might be some of the limitations on her abilities now.

[Ricky Macy]

Well, she hasn't played very many tournaments. That's number one. But obviously it's the mobility, you know, as you go down the yellow brick road and you get a little older. That's the number one thing. And remember she just got married, so I don't, I don't know how much she's been practicing, but it's not even about that. You know, she can be competitive with anybody, you know, but when you get her on the run, she's not going to have the firepower like she did back in the day.

[Sarah Rainsford]

Is there a risk of reputational damage.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

If she doesn't do, do very well? Or will people just be pleased to see her?

[Ricky Macy]

Listen, her legacy is cemented. People don't look at it like that whatsoever. I think it's great for the sport. And when she says I'm not going to do it anymore, I'm making a prediction. I think, I think her and Serena will play doubles one more time. And that would definitely be must see tv.

[Sarah Rainsford]

Rick, you know the William sisters from many years ago when they were just sort of starting out and you talk about this drive that Venus has got. Is that something that you could see in those early years?

[Ricky Macy]

You know, when I went to Compton in 1991 and got on those courts, I, I didn't see it at first. But to answer your question, once we start playing competitive points, and this is the wild card, there was a rage inside these two little girls, especially Venus, because she was more mature. I never saw and I never saw to this day. And that makes you bulletproof and you'll be better under pressure. But did I think they'd be she'd be playing this long? No, but she just loves to compete. She's not planning on winning the tournament and people know that. But I think it's just. I think it's just great for tennis.

[Charlotte Gallagher]

That was Ricky Macy talking to my colleague Rebecca Kesby. And that's all from us for now. But there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast, podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcastbc.co.uk you can also find us on XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag Global Newspod. This edition was mixed by Holly Smith. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time. Goodbye.

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