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EU Demands Meta, TikTok Detail Efforts to Curb Disinformation from Israel-Hamas War

(FILES) This picture taken on April 26, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France, shows a screen displaying the Tiktok social media platform's logo and the European flag. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on April 26, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France, shows a screen displaying the Tiktok social media platform's logo and the European flag. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)
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EU Demands Meta, TikTok Detail Efforts to Curb Disinformation from Israel-Hamas War

(FILES) This picture taken on April 26, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France, shows a screen displaying the Tiktok social media platform's logo and the European flag. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on April 26, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France, shows a screen displaying the Tiktok social media platform's logo and the European flag. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

The European Union on Thursday demanded Meta and TikTok detail their efforts to curb illegal content and disinformation during the Israel-Hamas war, flexing the power of a new law that threatens billions in fines if tech giants fail to do enough to protect users.
The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive branch, formally requested that the social media companies provide information on how they're complying with pioneering digital rules aimed at cleaning up online platforms, The Associated Press reported.
The commission asked Meta and TikTok to explain the measures they have taken to reduce the risk of spreading and amplifying terrorist and violent content, hate speech and disinformation.
It's the prelude to a possible crackdown under the new digital rules, which took effect in August and have made the EU a global leader in reining in Big Tech. The biggest platforms face extra obligations to stop a wide range of illegal content from flourishing or face the threat of fines of up to 6% of annual global revenue.
The new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, are being put to the test by the Israel-Hamas war. Photos and videos have flooded social media of the carnage alongside posts from users pushing false claims and misrepresenting videos from other events.
Brussels issued its first formal request under the DSA last week to Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton, the bloc's digital enforcer, had previously sent warning letters to the three platforms, as well as YouTube, highlighting the risks that the war poses.

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World

Iran Guards Chief Says 'Finger on Trigger', Warns US against 'Miscalculations'

Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Pakpour (Archive - Reuters)
Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Pakpour (Archive - Reuters)
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Iran Guards Chief Says 'Finger on Trigger', Warns US against 'Miscalculations'

Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Pakpour (Archive - Reuters)
Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Pakpour (Archive - Reuters)

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned Israel and the US against "miscalculations" in the wake of mass protests, saying the force had its "finger on the trigger".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against the Iranian republic after Washington backed and joined Israel's 12-day war in June.

A fortnight of protests starting in late December shook the clerical leadership under supreme leader Ali Khamenei, but the movement has petered out in the face of a crackdown that activists say has left thousands dead.

Guards commander General Mohammad Pakpour warned Israel and the United States "to avoid any miscalculations, by learning from historical experiences and what they learned in the 12-day imposed war, so that they do not face a more painful and regrettable fate".

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and dear Iran have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief -- a leader dearer than their own lives," he said, referring to Khamenei.

His comments came in a written statement quoted by state television marking the national day in Iran to celebrate the Guards, a force whose mission is to protect the 1979 Iranian revolution from internal and external threats.

Activists accuse the Guards of playing a frontline role in the deadly crackdown on protests. The group is sanctioned as a terrorist entity by countries including Australia, Canada and the United States and campaigners have long urged similar moves from the EU and UK.

Pakpour took over as Guards commander last year after his predecessor Hossein Salami was one of several key military figures killed in an Israeli strike during the 12-day war, losses which revealed Israel's deep intelligence penetration of Iran.

Giving their first official toll from the protests, Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed.

The statement from the Iranian republic's foundation for martyrs and veterans sought to draw a distinction between "martyrs", who it said were members of security forces and innocent bystanders, and what it described as "rioters" backed by the US. 

Of its toll of 3,117, it said 2,427 people were martyrs. 

However, rights groups say the heavy toll was caused by security forces firing directly on protesters and that the actual number of those killed could be far higher and even extend to over 20,000. 

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said "the future for the Iranian people can only be in a regime change", adding that the Iranian “regime is in quite a fragile situation". 

World

Merz Warns Great Power Politics Makes World 'a Dangerous Place'

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
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Merz Warns Great Power Politics Makes World 'a Dangerous Place'

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2026. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Thursday that the international order is "unravelling at a breathtaking pace" and that "a world where only power counts is a dangerous place".

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Merz pointed to Russia's war in Ukraine, a rising China and a United States that is "radically reshaping its foreign and security policy".

"A world where only power counts is a dangerous place," he said. "First for small states and for the middle powers, ultimately for the great ones."

The conservative leader of the top EU economy said Germany went down this road "to its bitter end" during the 20th century, reported AFP.

"It pulled the world into a black abyss," he said.

"So let us bear in mind: our greatest strength remains the ability to build partnerships and alliances among equals based on mutual trust and respect."

Merz called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "the most drastic expression" so far of a global "new era". He added that China, "with strategic foresight, has worked its way into the ranks of the great powers".

"The United States' global pole position is being challenged," Merz said, with Washington responding by "radically reshaping its foreign and security policy".

"We have entered a time of great power politics. The international order of the past three decades anchored in international law has always been imperfect. Today, its very foundations have been shaken."

He said Europe's power rested on three pillars.

"First we must invest massively in our ability to defend ourselves, and we are doing this," he said.

"Second, we must rapidly make our economies competitive, and we are doing this. Third, we must stand closer together among Europeans and among like-minded partners. We are doing this."

World

Israel President Says Iran's Future 'Can Only Be Regime Change'

Israeli President Isaac Herzog attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Romina Amato
Israeli President Isaac Herzog attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Romina Amato
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Israel President Says Iran's Future 'Can Only Be Regime Change'

Israeli President Isaac Herzog attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Romina Amato
Israeli President Isaac Herzog attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Romina Amato

Israel's President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday that "regime change" can be the only future for Iran, where mass protests against the clerical authorities have faced a deadly crackdown.

Demonstrations initially sparked by economic grievances turned into a movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since 1979.

People poured into the streets for several days from January 8, but the demonstrations appear for now to have petered out in the face of what activists describe as a crackdown under the cover of a blanket internet shutdown.

"The Iranian people are yearning for change. The Iranian people deserve change," Herzog said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"The future for the Iranian people can only be in a regime change, and that has to be... within the realms of the Iranian people and the international community and its support," he added.

He added saying that the Iranian “regime is in quite a fragile situation."

The Iranian Republic's long-time foe Israel has expressed support for the protesters, without suggesting it would intervene.

Iran accused Israel in early January of trying to undermine its national unity after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel stood "in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people".

Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed during the protests that first erupted in late December, but activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher.

Iran and Israel fought a 12-day war last year, after Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities as well as residential areas, saying it aimed to cripple the Iranian republic's atomic research and ballistic missile capabilities.