Normal life disrupted in parts of coastal Karnataka due to torrential rain
Mangaluru /Udupi/Sirsi(PTI): Normal life was disrupted in the coastal and Western Ghats districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada following heavy to very heavy and incessant rains over the past few days, officials said.
Uttara Kannada district Collector K Lakshmipriya said there was heavy rain in the coastal parts of the district on Monday and 313 people had taken shelter in eight care centres opened in Honnavar Taluk and they were provided with basic facilities.
As a result of the 'excess rain,' many low-lying areas in the undivided Dakshina Kannada (including Udupi) were flooded. However, on Monday there were no incidents of flooding inside Mangaluru city, but inundation was reported in lower parts of Bantwal town situated near the riverfront.
Officials at Karnataka State Natural Disasters Monitoring Centre (KSNMDC) said they were closely monitoring this area and that a rescue team was on standby.
Meanwhile, in Uttara Kannada, 10,600 cusecs water was released from the four gates of the Kadra reservoir of Kali river on Monday, as the water level crossed the danger threshold.
Incidentally, when 6,000 cusecs of water was released on Saturday, to relieve pressure off the overflowing Kali river, downstream villages of Kadra dam, Kadra, Mallapur, Kerodi, Baira Balani, Karga, Ulag and Halaga were affected.
Areas that witnessed torrential rains in Uttara Kannada on Monday were Sirsi, Siddapur and Yellapur, as well as parts of Malnad (ghats) area of Uttara Kannada. Many houses were flooded in Kadatoka area of Honnavar taluk and a team from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had to be deployed to rescue villagers.
As rain water entered houses at many places in Udupi, people had to be rescued by firefighters in rubber dinghies. The worst affected areas were in Kalsanka, Bailakere, Mathadabettu, Gundibail, Padigaru and Sagri. Firefighters used rubber dinghies to ferry women, children and elderly persons to safety.
In Uttara Kannada, Colonel Hill in Honnavar, a hillock on which one of the area's famous monuments, a British era column, stands, collapsed at places on National Highway 66.
With heavy rainfall expected according to the Met department, the administration of both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts issued an orange alert in their respective jurisdictions until July 11.
An orange alert means very heavy rainfall of 11 cm to 20 cm.
All three districts (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada) declared a holiday for schools and PU colleges on Monday.
A holiday has been declared by the authorities in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi for schools and PU colleges on Tuesday also.
Meanwhile, Uttara Kannada MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on Monday visited affected areas in Shashihital and Gunda village and Bhaskeri of Kumta constituency as well as care centres in Honnavar taluk and met the affected people.
Karwar MLA Satish Sail offered 'bagina' (an offering to rivers in spate, a tradition followed in Karnataka) to Kadra reservoir on Monday.
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French prosecutors summon Elon Musk over allegations of child abuse images and deepfakes on X
Paris (AP): Elon Musk has been summoned to Paris on Monday, where investigators are looking into allegations of misconduct related to the social media platform X, including the spread of child sexual abuse material and deepfake content.
The world's richest man and Linda Yaccarino — the former CEO of X — have been summoned for “voluntary interviews," while other employees of the platform are scheduled to be heard as witnesses throughout this week, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
It remains unclear whether Musk and Yaccarino will travel to Paris. A spokesperson for X did not respond to questions from The Associated Press and Yaccarino's current company, eMed, did not answer a request sent to the press email.
French prosecutors also suspect that controversy around the platform's AI system Grok's deepfakes was concocted to boost the value of Musk-owned companies ahead of a key market listing, and alerted US authorities. Musk welcomed a report that US justice officials refused to help French investigators, posting on X, “This needs to stop.”
The reason for summoning Musk
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Musk was summoned after a search took place in February at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office. Musk and Yaccarino have been invited in their capacities as managers of X at the time of the events investigated. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.
“These voluntary interviews with the executives are intended to allow them to present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement,” prosecutors said. “At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that platform X complies with French law, insofar as it operates within the national territory.”
The Paris prosecutor's office said Musk and Yaccarino's potential no-show on Monday “is not an obstacle for investigations to continue.”
What is being investigated
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French authorities opened their investigation after reports from a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. It expanded after the AI system, Grok, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, a crime in France, and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.
It's looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.
Grok, which was built by xAI and is available through X, sparked global outrage this year after it pumped out a torrent of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to requests from X users.
Grok also wrote in a widely shared post in French that gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were designed for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than for mass murder — language long associated with Holocaust denial.
In later posts on X, the chatbot reversed itself and acknowledged that its earlier reply was wrong, saying it had been deleted, and pointed to historical evidence that Zyklon B was used to kill more than 1 million people in Auschwitz gas chambers.
French prosecutors alert US authorities
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In March, the Paris prosecutor's office alerted the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the US federal agency responsible for regulating and overseeing financial markets — suggesting "that the controversy surrounding sexually explicit deepfakes generated by Grok may have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the value of the companies X and xAI — potentially constituting criminal offenses," prosecutors said.
The Paris prosecutor's office said this could have been done "ahead of the planned June 2026 stock market listing of the new entity formed by the merger of Space X and xAI, at a time when company X was clearly losing momentum.”
Justice Department brushes off French call
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According to the Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department told French law enforcement authorities it wouldn't facilitate their efforts to investigate Musk's X. The newspaper reported that the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, in a two-page letter last week, accused the French of inappropriately using its justice system to interfere with an American business.
The letter also said France's requests for US assistance “constitute an effort to entangle the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.”
French judicial authorities didn't respond to requests for comments.
Investigations launched into several internet platforms
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The cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office has launched in recent years a series of investigations focusing on internet platforms' suspected illegal activities.
French-language website Coco, which was cited in the landmark trial that turned Gisèle Pelicot into a global icon against sexual violence, closed in 2024 as its manager is accused of complicity in spreading child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes, among other things.
Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, was handed preliminary charges and placed under judicial supervision for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the platform, including child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.
The Paris prosecutor's office opened last year an investigation into TikTok over allegations that the platform allows content promoting suicide and that its algorithms may encourage vulnerable young people to take their own lives.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it has lodged a new complaint against X with the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office targeting "the platform's policies that allow disinformation to flourish.''
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