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The author said Bayern had reached a verbal agreement in principle with Harry Kane on a long-term deal through June 2029. They added that salary and contract length had been agreed, with the documents now with lawyers for review and approval before signing, and cited Michael Bridge as reporting that Kane had agreed. https://t.co/LWavypLaww #Bayern #HarryKane #TransferNews #DE #GB

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

The post said Cole Palmer had signed a long-term deal with Chelsea running until June 2034, with a higher salary and 12 months added to his contract. It also quoted Palmer as saying the club meant a lot to him, that he believed it was moving in the right direction and that he was delighted with the agreement. https://t.co/hj9DPIuH40 #ChelseaFC #ColePalmer #FootballNews #GB

The author wrote that Members of the European Parliament received €8,772 net per month, with daily allowances potentially bringing the amount to around €13,000. They argued that halving the basic salary would be a small step towards bringing MEPs closer to the difficulties faced by many Europeans. https://t.co/6qIYcVQM2y #Europe #Politics #Economy #EU

The post said Harry Kane’s new deal had been agreed in principle on salary, with its length and clauses still being clarified. It also mentioned talks involving Bruno, Christian Pulisic’s contract, and separate updates on Alisson and Thibaut Courtois, adding that more details would follow. The author also shared a Men in Blazers podcast about players whose contracts expire in 2027.

Dali again believed that a salary cap was necessary in the RLCS. He accused agencies, particularly Prodigy Agency, which he described as holding a quasi-monopoly, of taking advantage of the lack of regulation to push teams to spend every last penny. He called the situation shameful and urged everyone to speak out against these agencies. #RLCS #eSport #salarycap (translated)

We wouldn't be surprised if the 27-year-old Edjai (400K buyout + 700K salary) under the great coach Bartzokas becomes one of the best PFs in the Euroleague. You also need players with selflessness in defense who will give their all for the team to break the record of Jugoplastika and not 31-year-old "washed" hobbyists who cost 4 + 650 and don't make a difference. #Basketball #Euroleague #Sports (translated)

500,000 electricity and gas accounts in Ireland are in arrears. We have the dearest electricity prices in Europe. Yet the government increased the salary of the ESB CEO by nearly €100,000 to €410,000. https://t.co/s635mjkDdm https://t.co/OFtDjxTBEf #ElectricityPrices #Ireland #ESBCEO #IE

🚨🔵🔴 Xavi Espart has agreed to sign new contract at Barcelona until June 2030. Deal done with his agents and official statement to follow. Higher salary and longer deal. https://t.co/Tkwed8vewN #Barcelona #XaviEspart #ContractExtension #ES

🚨🔵🔴 Marc Bernal has agreed to sign new long term deal at Barcelona valid until June 2031. Agreement closed between his agents and director Deco, signatures coming next week as the midfielder will get a salary rise. https://t.co/xwdGAkKj4O #Barcelona #MarcBernal #TransferNews #ES

🚨🔵🔴 Hamza Abdelkarim signs new deal at Barcelona until June 2030 with a new release clause. The former release clause was worth €15m; the new one will be worth €150m. Salary increase for the Egyptian striker. 🇪🇬 https://t.co/ex0xikEHP6 #Barcelona #HamzaAbdelkarim #LaLiga #EG

Le communiqué de Kawhi Leonard, qui confirme son retour à Toronto : « L’intégrité et le respect pour ce sport sont au cœur de qui je suis. J’assume l’entière responsabilité des erreurs de jugement commises par des personnes de mon entourage proche et je regrette la distraction que cette situation a causée aux supporters et à ma famille. J’ai signé mon contrat avec les Clippers ainsi que les accords en question en toute bonne foi, pleinement déterminé à remplir mes obligations et sans avoir connaissance de la moindre intention de la part de qui que ce soit de contourner le salary cap. Depuis 15 ans, ma priorité a toujours été de tout donner à ma famille, au basket et à ceux avec qui je partage le parquet. Alors que je retourne à Toronto, je me concentre sur ce que je peux contrôler, sur la nécessité de tourner la page et d’aller de l’avant en faisant table rase du passé. » #KawhiLeonard #Toronto #Basketball

Donc pour résumer, les Clippers vont perdre leur : - 1er tour de Draft 2029 - 1er tour de Draft 2030 - 1er tour de Draft 2031 - 1er tour de Draft 2032 - 1er tour de Draft 2033 Enorme sanction d'Adam Silver pour contournement du salary cap dans l'affaire Kawhi. https://t.co/EvGSPxO5rU #NBA #Clippers #Kawhi

🚨 WOW !!! LA NBA SANCTIONNE LOURDEMENT LES CLIPPERS POUR CONTOURNEMENT DU SALARY CAP !!! 🤯 ▪️ 5 FIRST ROUND PICKS RETIRÉS À LA FRANCHISE ! ❌ ▪️ 30 MILLIONS $ D’AMENDE ! 💰 ▪️ STEVE BALLMER, LAWRENCE FRANK ET GILLIAN ZUCKER SUSPENDUS ! 🙅‍♂️ ▪️ 700 00$ À PAYER POUR KAWHI ! 💸 POUAHHH LA VIOLENCE. #NBA #Clippers #Sanctions

🚨🇹🇷 BREAKING: Richarlison has agreed to join Trabzonspor with salary agreed, x3 more than what he currently earns at Tottenham. Spurs rejected two bids worth £15m and £20m; new proposal anticipated soon. Trabzonspor want Richy as priority. 🤎🩵🇧🇷 https://t.co/iytk7smdpF #Richarlison #Trabzonspor #TransferNews #TR #BR

🚨🔴⚪️ Claudio Echeverri to Benfica, here we go! Verbal agreement done with Man City. Initial loan with 100% salary covered and buy option clause included. Echeverri travels today, as @CLMerlo reports. https://t.co/vm1Ydjt4Hj #Echeverri #Benfica #TransferNews #PT #GB