The author said they were travelling to Beijing for an international dialogue titled “The Global South in a Changing World Order.” They wrote that the crisis of multilateralism and the emergence of multipolarity raised new questions about the meaning of the “Global South” and its role in a changing world order. https://t.co/gQHlc3uAUT #GlobalSouth #Multilateralism #InternationalDialogue #CN
Operation Dark Clark – Russia built a real organisation around a false identity Most influence operations create fake people, fake websites or fake news stories. Operation Dark Clark appears to have gone considerably further: Russian operators built what looked like a functioning research organisation in Latin America, employed real people to produce genuine research and concealed from those employees who was ultimately directing their work. OpenAI disclosed the operation on 8 October after banning a cluster of accounts originating in Russia. The actors used ChatGPT while targeting countries across Latin America, principally to damage Ukraine’s reputation, manipulate domestic political debates and manage a self-described research organisation called the Social Research Center, or SRC. OpenAI assessed Dark Clark as Category Five on the six-level Breakout Scale, the first operation it has disrupted since beginning its influence-operation reporting to reach that level. A front organisation with real employees The SRC presented itself as a research platform studying subjects including Latin America’s relationship with India and the Indian diaspora. OpenAI found more than 60 articles on its website, most of them apparently original rather than plagiarised. Internal reports produced by the Russian operators discussed hiring, dismissals, salary scales, staffing and unfinished research projects, strongly suggesting that the operators controlled the organisation rather than merely collaborating with it. At the centre of the structure was “Mia Clark”, a fictitious identity reportedly used to manage social-media activity and communicate with staff. According to OpenAI, the available evidence indicates that employees working for SRC in Latin America were probably unaware that the organisation was being directed by Russian actors. They interviewed experts, conducted research and wrote papers in what appears to have been good faith. The deception therefore existed primarily at the organisational level: much of the work was real, but the identity and strategic purpose of the institution commissioning it were not. OpenAI This is one reason Dark Clark differs from the familiar model of a troll farm. A reader encountering an SRC paper might be looking at research genuinely written by a Latin American employee based on genuine interviews. The manipulation lies further upstream, in who built the institution, selected its direction and controlled its infrastructure. From forged emails to real events The operation also appears to have attempted something more ambitious than online persuasion: inducing real people to produce events that could later be turned into propaganda. In May 2026, according to the operators’ internal reports, they created an email address impersonating Lima’s regional education authorities and instructed schools to organise activities about Ukraine for a cultural-diversity event. The instructions included references to Stepan Bandera, whose historical legacy remains particularly contentious in Poland and parts of Eastern Europe. The operators claimed that some schools complied, replied to the false address and sent photographs of the events. OpenAI could not independently verify every claim contained in the operators’ reports. It did, however, find Peruvian reporting matching the story, followed by publications in Poland and an English-language outlet in Hungary. Some coverage included comments from a Polish MEP calling for people displaying what he described as anti-Polish attitudes to be declared persona non grata. OpenAI therefore concluded that the fabricated starting point appears to have entered genuine political debate across national borders. The mechanism is unusually effective because the final photographs need not themselves be fabricated. If people can be tricked into staging a real event on the basis of a forged instruction, the operation creates authentic visual evidence of something that was artificially initiated. The same method in Ecuador and Bolivia Dark Clark’s internal reports describe similar efforts elsewhere. In Ecuador, the operators claimed they used a fake education email to encourage schools to stage ceremonies involving President Daniel Noboa and Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater. Ecuadorian media subsequently covered a matching controversy, and the country’s education minister issued a detailed denial. Other Ecuador-focused material included fabricated audio attributed to Ukraine’s consul and a false television report alleging that Noboa’s government was recruiting Ecuadorians to fight in Ukraine. Local fact-checker Lupa found that the supposed Teleamazonas report had never been broadcast, that images had been taken from Instagram, that the audio was AI-generated and that a company named in a supposed recruitment contract did not exist in Ecuador’s corporate registry. In Bolivia, an internal report described a fake audio recording supposedly made by an employee of state water company EPSAS during anti-government protests. It claimed that water supplies to La Paz would be cut and a state of emergency declared. The allegation produced a fact-check and an official denial. OpenAI says the operators explicitly described their objective as worsening the political crisis surrounding the demonstrations. Possible links to the post-Wagner influence machine Dark Clark did not emerge in a vacuum. The operators repeatedly asked ChatGPT about Politology and La Compania, names associated in previous investigations with the Russian influence apparatus that developed from structures once connected to Yevgeny Prigozhin. Forbidden Stories and its partners obtained 1,431 pages of internal documents describing a network known as “The Company”, which they reported had grown to almost 100 operatives and was conducting influence projects across roughly 30 Global South countries. Their investigation found that the organisation moved under the supervision of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, after Prigozhin’s death. Its documented budget for ten months of activity in 2024 was approximately €7.3 million. Two older Argentina campaigns claimed in Dark Clark’s internal reports — a false story about Javier Milei buying Cartier collars for his dogs and the staging of anti-Milei graffiti — had already been independently attributed by investigative journalists to Politology/La Compania. That is significant corroboration, but it is not enough to prove that every Dark Clark activity was run by the same organisational structure. AI was the back office, not the mastermind Perhaps the most important finding concerns artificial intelligence itself. In most documented cases, the Russians were not using ChatGPT to generate the propaganda seen by the public. Their principal use was administrative: drafting reports for an unknown superior, summarising operations, translating material and recording the supposed success of campaigns. Those reports also expose a weakness in the operators’ own measurement. OpenAI found instances in which they tried to claim credit for developments they had probably not caused, suggesting that they were not only attempting to manipulate Latin American audiences but also presenting an inflated picture of their effectiveness to whoever was supervising them. Dark Clark nevertheless broke further into the real world than any influence operation OpenAI had previously disrupted. Under the Brookings framework, Category Five means that an operation has escaped its original network and been amplified by high-profile individuals such as politicians. Dark Clark crossed that threshold because fabricated narratives appear to have provoked governmental denials, mainstream reporting and political comment in several countries. Its most important innovation was therefore not a particularly convincing deepfake. It was the construction of a partly genuine institution around a concealed foreign controller. The research could be real. The employees could be real. The interviews could be real. What was false was who they were ultimately working for. Sources OpenAI — Disrupting AI-enabled “false front” operations https://openai.com/index/disrupting-ai-enabled-false-front-operations/ Forbidden Stories — Propaganda Machine: Russia’s foreign influence strategy across three continents https://forbiddenstories.org/propaganda-machine-secret-documents-reveal-russias-foreign-influence-strategy-across-three-continents/ Forbidden Stories — Ghost Journalists, Cash and Kremlin Scripts: Argentina https://forbiddenstories.org/ghost-journalists-cash-and-kremlin-scripts-how-russian-operatives-tried-to-influence-argentinian-media/ openDemocracy — Russian influence operation in Bolivia https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/russia-bolivia-south-america-putin-evo-morales-wagner-prigozhin-covert-operations-propaganda-disinformation-foreign-interference/ Lupa Media — Fake Teleamazonas report about recruiting Ecuadorians for Ukraine https://lupa.com.ec/verificaciones/noboa-mercenarios-ucrania-ecuador/ Brookings Institution — The Breakout Scale https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-breakout-scale-measuring-the-impact-of-influence-operations/ Keywords: #DISINFORMED #Episode17 #OperationDarkClark #DarkClark #Russia #LatinAmerica #RussianInfluence #RussianDisinformation #Disinformation #InformationWarfare #InfluenceOperations #ForeignInterference #FIMI #FalseFront #FrontOrganisation #FakeInstitution #SocialResearchCenter #SRC #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenerativeAI #ChatGPT #OpenAI #NarrativeManipulation #SourceLaundering #InstitutionalManipulation #ForgedDocuments #FakeAudio #PoliticalInfluence #CovertInfluence #Peru #Ecuador #Bolivia #Argentina #Ukraine #Politology #LaCompania #TheCompany #SVR #WagnerLegacy #PropagandaMachine #GlobalSouth #BreakoutScale #OSINT #MediaManipulation #WRLD
30% of future energy demand growth will come from the Global South. So where are the fossil-free energy investments? 🤔 @anthrop_inst outlines this paradox in their latest article on @WeDontHaveTime https://t.co/jojEi37tru #EnergyTransition #GlobalSouth #FossilFree #GlobalSouthgenerallyreferstodevelopingcountries #whichcanincludemultiplenations.However #itdoesn'tspecifyanyparticularcountries.Therefore #nospecificcountrycodescanbeidentifiedfromthetweet. Ifyouhaveadifferenttweetormorespecificinformationaboutcountries #feelfreetoshare!
AFRICA DAILY REPORT — 15 SEPTEMBER 2026 Coverage: key developments identified in the latest 24-hour news cycle 1. SUDAN — WFP funding collapse threatens food aid Importance: 10/10 — CRITICAL The World Food Programme says its Sudan budget has fallen to roughly $206 million this year from $645 million last year, while nearly 20 million people face hunger. WFP says it needs almost $300 million more to sustain current operations. Funding constraints have forced the agency to concentrate assistance on about five million of the most vulnerable people, with roughly four million currently receiving partial rations. The funding shock risks deepening what is already one of the world's largest humanitarian emergencies. Source: Reuters, 14 Sep 2026 https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/world-food-programme-funding-sudan-plummets-more-go-hungry-head-says-2026-09-14/ 2. RED SEA / HORN OF AFRICA — Houthi advances increase pressure around Bab el-Mandeb Importance: 9.5/10 — CRITICAL Fighting in Yemen is intensifying along the Red Sea coast, with Houthi territorial gains creating additional risk around the Bab el-Mandeb shipping corridor. More than 82,000 people have reportedly been displaced since early September, and over 2,000 have crossed to Djibouti. For Africa, the significance extends beyond the humanitarian impact: disruption around Bab el-Mandeb threatens trade, fuel costs and shipping links serving East Africa, the Horn and the Suez route. Sources: Reuters/AP, 14 Sep 2026 https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-displaced-long-loved-ones-stability-houthis-advance-2026-09-14/ https://apnews.com/article/90dc86201ef51410ebcdd913837d741d 3. GLOBAL ENERGY / AFRICA — Saudi pipeline damage raises oil-price risk for African importers Importance: 9/10 — VERY HIGH Saudi Arabia's strategically important East-West oil pipeline is expected to remain largely out of service for three to five weeks after a drone attack. Oil prices rose as markets assessed the disruption alongside instability around Gulf and Red Sea routes. The consequences are especially important for oil-importing African economies, where higher crude prices can quickly feed into fuel costs, inflation, currencies and transport prices. Source: AP, 14 Sep 2026 https://apnews.com/article/8c18d82c109a8ea91347ce53c0096c53 4. SOUTH AFRICA — Rand falls sharply as oil prices surge Importance: 8.5/10 — VERY HIGH The South African rand fell around 1.1% against the dollar during Monday trading as rising oil prices increased pressure on Africa's most industrialised economy. South Africa is a major net oil importer and therefore particularly exposed to the current energy shock. The JSE Top-40 also weakened, while government bond yields moved higher. The development illustrates how the Middle East/Red Sea crisis is transmitting directly into African financial markets. Source: Reuters, 14 Sep 2026 5. DR CONGO — Ebola outbreak remains a continental-level health emergency Importance: 10/10 — CRITICAL The Ebola epidemic remains one of Africa's most serious current risks. The outbreak has spread to seven Congolese provinces, including Sud-Ubangi in western DRC, raising concern about further cross-border transmission toward the Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. Latest reported figures exceed 7,000 cases and 3,300 deaths. Conflict, displacement, health-worker strikes and population movement continue to obstruct containment. Sources: AP / public-health reporting, latest updates through 14 Sep 2026 https://apnews.com/article/58a2b25c752eaa8344ff16564a8e3547 6. EASTERN DR CONGO — Bukavu mourns 27 students killed in school fires Importance: 8/10 — HIGH Hundreds gathered in Bukavu for a mass funeral after fires at two neighbouring schools killed 27 students. The tragedy is particularly significant because it occurred in an already severely stressed city: Bukavu is controlled by the M23/AFC movement and local medical capacity is simultaneously under pressure from conflict and the Ebola epidemic. The disaster highlights the fragility of civilian infrastructure in eastern Congo. Source: AP, 14 Sep 2026 https://apnews.com/article/fd1aea4738a9a686fc6f0d45997a2be3 7. SOUTH AFRICA — Major road disaster kills at least 21 people in Western Cape Importance: 7.5/10 — HIGH At least 21 people were killed in a multi-vehicle collision on the N1 between Prince Albert and Leeu-Gamka in Western Cape. Two minibus taxis collided head-on before an SUV struck the wreckage. Together with another fatal accident near Ermelo, at least 29 people died on South African roads over the weekend, renewing scrutiny of road and minibus-taxi safety. Source: AP, 14 Sep 2026 https://apnews.com/article/9ae8e6beeb75cc307be24e15e9ec1fad 8. SUDAN — International leverage constrained as humanitarian needs rise Importance: 8.5/10 — VERY HIGH The widening humanitarian funding gap comes as diplomatic pressure on Sudan's belligerents remains limited. The UN Security Council recently extended the Darfur arms embargo only temporarily while members continue debating a U.S. proposal for a nationwide ban. Russia and China have raised objections to expanding the restrictions. The combination of weak humanitarian financing and diplomatic deadlock increases the risk of further deterioration. Sources: Reuters/AP https://apnews.com/article/fde2c6880c80343bebffb83c243fd3f4 9. UGANDA / SOUTH SUDAN — Climate stress is fuelling violence against traditional rainmakers Importance: 6.5/10 — SIGNIFICANT AP reports growing violence against traditional rainmakers in parts of Uganda and South Sudan as increasingly erratic rainfall damages subsistence agriculture. Farmers facing droughts, floods and crop losses have sometimes blamed spiritual practitioners for failed rains. The story is locally focused but illustrates a broader African security issue: climate disruption increasingly interacts with poverty, social tension and traditional belief systems. Source: AP, 15 Sep 2026 https://apnews.com/article/6080fa9dbc838ba75b9bab29cfd48fc9 10. AFRICA'S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK — Oil shock becomes the key near-term macro risk Importance: 8/10 — HIGH The combination of damaged Saudi export infrastructure, instability around Bab el-Mandeb and elevated crude prices is becoming an important macroeconomic risk for African oil-importing states. South Africa's currency reaction is an early indicator. If elevated prices persist, Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco, Senegal and other net importers could face renewed inflation and balance-of-payments pressure, while African oil exporters could receive a revenue boost. This is a cross-cutting issue to watch closely over the coming days. Sources: Reuters/AP, 14 Sep 2026 TODAY'S ASSESSMENT The three developments with the greatest strategic significance are: (1) the sharp deterioration in humanitarian financing for Sudan; (2) the continuing Ebola emergency in DR Congo; and (3) the expanding Red Sea/Middle East energy shock, which is increasingly transmitting into African currencies, inflation and trade risks. #Africa #AfricaNews #TopNewsOfAfrica #Sudan #SudanCrisis #HumanitarianCrisis #WFP #WorldFoodProgramme #FoodSecurity #HungerCrisis #HumanitarianAid #RedSea #HornOfAfrica #BabElMandeb #Houthis #MaritimeSecurity #Shipping #GlobalTrade #EnergySecurity #OilPrices #OilMarket #AfricanEconomies #AfricanMarkets #EconomicRisk #Geopolitics #MiddleEast #EastAfrica #GlobalSouth #AfricaToday #wrldorg
Entre um campeonato e outro ou entre as rodadas de um torneio, sempre sabemos que nosso time de coração vai voltar ao campo. Já a pausa causada pela Esclerose Lateral Amiotrófica não. O Fogão empresta sua voz a milhares de pessoas que convivem com uma doença que pode interromper movimentos, fala e respiração. O Mais Por ELA nasceu no Sul Global para dar mais visibilidade, atenção e apoio às pessoas, cuidadores e famílias impactados pela Esclerose Lateral Amiotrófica (ELA), uma doença neurológica progressiva e, até o momento, sem cura. O Mais Por ELA tem a missão de fortalecer associações de pacientes no Brasil 🇧🇷, Argentina 🇦🇷, Uruguai 🇺🇾, Colômbia 🇨🇴, África do Sul 🇿🇦 e Quênia 🇰🇪, ampliando a conscientização e a mobilização em torno da causa. Entramos em campo ao lado do Mais Por ELA, porque essa é uma luta que ninguém deveria enfrentar sozinho. #ELA #ALS #MaisPorEla #GlobalSouth #ELA #ALS #MaisPorEla
“The Vatican is voicing what much of the Global South feels: The EU does not stand for universal values. It stands for corporate interests,” Belgian MEP Marc Botenga told POLITICO. “EU foreign policy can be summed up as: Do as I say, not as I do.” ⤵️ https://t.co/aenwsg8Kxj #Vatican #EUpolicy #GlobalSouth #VA #EU
"We need to see whether those countries from the global south who are stuck with the fossil fuel economy have got sufficient finance," 🌍 Harjeet Singh, @fossiltreaty, makes the case that equity has to sit at the center of tracking the fossil transition. Watch more https://t.co/Mi2iGLUlvc #FossilFuelEconomy #GlobalSouth #ClimateEquity #Thetweetreferences"countriesfromtheglobalsouth #"butitdoesnotspecifyparticularcountriesortheircountrycodes.Therefore #therearenospecificcountrycodestoreturn.
In my new piece for @theideasletter, I argue that global order won't return to spheres of influence. Great powers can't wall off their regions, and the Global South isn't waiting to be sorted — it's actively shaping what comes next https://t.co/VMxGBvKRzM #GlobalOrder #GreatPowers #GlobalSouth #GlobalSouth
People want Dignity + Respect, not your Aid which is designed to hide your support for War Crimes + Exploitation. Stop exploiting the Global South. Stop supporting the Genocide in Palestine and Lebanon. Stop supporting US + Israeli War Crimes in West Asia... #Dignity #StopWarCrimes #GlobalSouth #PS #LB #US
The global south is innovating at a speed that’s difficult to appreciate. I’m off to Rio in 10 days for Web Summit. The energy in South America is 🔥. It’s a very different event to anything in Europe or North America. Fintech in particular is a different universe. Can’t wait 🇧🇷 https://t.co/5EWb0BzRPS #WebSummit #Fintech #GlobalSouth #BR #EU #NA
La conferencia internacional en Santa Marta, convocada por las ministras de Ambiente de Colombia y de Clima de Países Bajos, abordó la necesidad de una transición energética justa, integrando las epistemologías del sur y destacando la importancia de evitar la dependencia de los combustibles fósiles, aunque algunos temas, como los petroquímicos, quedaron escasamente discutidos. #FossilFuelTransition #GlobalSouthEpistemology #SustainableDevelopment
