Latest news with #EuroVerify
Euronews
5 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Fake online investigations claim famous women were born male
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit against US alt-right podcaster Candace Owens. The couple's lawyers accused her of being at the helm of an online crusade predicated on the assertion that she would stake "her entire professional career on the fact that Brigitte Macron is a man." Owens is accused of "relying on discredited falsehoods" and "inventing new ones", in a bid to "maximise attention and financial gain for herself", with her podcast and video series, Becoming Brigitte, having amassed millions of views. However, the false claims about Brigitte Macron first went viral in 2021. Ahead of France's 2022 presidential election, self-proclaimed journalist Natacha Rey alleged that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth and named Jean Michel Trogneux — which is Brigitte's brother's name — during a four-hour YouTube interview with spiritual medium Amandine Roy. However, this is not an isolated incident. Many other female public figures, such as former US First Lady Michelle Obama, New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and former US Vice President Kamala Harris, have also been victims of similar transphobic social media campaigns, which academics have dubbed "tranvestigations". The rise of 'tranvestigations' Transvestigations emerged on social media, particularly image-based ones such as X, Instagram and TikTok, because of individuals who seek to uncover some kind of hidden transgender identity among cisgender celebrities, according to Lexi Webster, associate professor of digital culture at the University of Southampton. Users post pictures where they examine "the size and shape of a person's shoulders, of skulls and jaws, but they also look at people's gait, as well as their genitals," Webster said, which they accompany with conspiracy theories. The fake claims about Brigitte Macron have become so widespread partly because they build on the public's perception that politicians are inherently deceitful. Other factors include "the conspiratorial element which is transphobic and is underpinned by discourses that there is some kind of trans cabal that is seeking to take power over particular industries", explained Webster. Candace Owens' preoccupation with Brigitte Macron has led other prominent figures, such as known conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, to also relay the claim. "Barack Obama has been plagued with gay rumours for a long time, and this is embedded in those discourses of Michelle Obama secretly being trans, and Emmanuel Macron, who is also being discredited largely because of other elements of his relationship", Webster told EuroVerify. "Right-wing or alt-right users are fuelling these claims, but we also know many platforms are inundated with bots who construct and reconstruct discourses based on what they know works well, which creates an engagement trap as people like, comment and repost", Webster added. However, even those who reshare the content to laugh at it also help keep it alive. "The online satirical community which points out these kinds of networks of hate and reshares them to laugh at the absurdity also generates engagement", Webster said. Fake news report about Brigitte Macron emerges online Despite there being no evidence to back any of the false claims about Brigitte Macron, they have with time become increasingly bold and innovative — both in style and substance — rather than dying down. For instance, in early July, a video styled as a TV news report surfaced on social media and garnered hundreds of thousands of views every time it was reposted. The video opens with shots of a crime scene, as a narrator alleges that a surgeon named François Faivre — who had supposedly planned on revealing information about Brigitte Macron's alleged gender reassignment surgery in a tell-all interview with a French tabloid — mysteriously fell out of a window in Paris on 29 June. However, the video, just as the claim, is fake. Through a reverse image search, EuroVerify traced the opening shots of the video to AFP footage available on YouTube, which showed a crime scene in Paris back in October 2022 — so not 29 June 2025. Furthermore, the surgeon in the video claims he worked at the American Hospital in Paris. The private healthcare practice told EuroVerify it had no records of a surgeon named François Faivre. Although the face of the fake surgeon could be a real person's, he barely blinks in the video, which points to the fact that his speech has likely been AI-generated. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the story of the surgeon is fake, conspiracy theories use tactful elements which sow doubt, such as the narrator's claims that Brigitte Macron underwent gender reassignment surgery at the American Hospital in Paris. This claim is intentional and appears to play on previously established stories, given that in 2019, Brigitte Macron sued Closer magazine for invading her private life, after the publication alleged that the country's first lady underwent a three-hour plastic surgery at the American Hospital of Paris in July. "They take alleged medical evidence, for example, this person went into a hospital at this point, knowing that the person in question is not going to tell us what they were in hospital for", Webster told EuroVerify. In this case, conspiracy theorists could be taking advantage of the fact that politicians and their partners rarely address plastic surgery rumours, "in the political sphere there is also a desire not to come across as vain or shallow about appearance, beyond political appearance", added Webster. "No evidence is good enough to stop the rumour. Even if Brigitte Macron did share her birth certificate, online users could claim it has been forged or altered", said Webster. "Even if the Macrons win the defamation case against Candace Owens, I don't think there'll be any impact on the claims online."
Euronews
5 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Fake online investigations claim Brigitte Macron is a man
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit against US alt-right podcaster Candace Owens. The couple's lawyers accused her of being at the helm of an online crusade predicated on the assertion that she would stake "her entire professional career on the fact that Brigitte Macron is a man." Owens is accused of "relying on discredited falsehoods" and "inventing new ones", in a bid to "maximise attention and financial gain for herself", with her podcast and video series, "Becoming Brigitte", having amassed millions of views. However, the false claims about Brigitte Macron first went viral 2021. Ahead of France's 2022 presidential election, self-proclaimed journalist Natacha Rey alleged that Brigitte Macron was born a man named Jean Michel Trogneux — which is Brigitte's brother's name — during a four-hour YouTube interview with spiritual medium Amandine Roy. However, this is not an isolated incident. Many other female public figures, such as former US First Lady Michelle Obama, New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and former US Vice President Kamala Harris, have also been victims of similar transphobic social media campaigns which academics have dubbed "tranvestigations". The rise of 'tranvestigations' Transvestigations emerged on social media, particularly image-based social media such as X, Instagram and TikTok, because of individuals who seek to uncover some kind of hidden transgender identity among cisgender celebrities, according to Lexi Webster, associate professor of digital culture at the University of Southampton. Users post pictures where they examine "the size and shape of a person's shoulders, of skulls and jaws, but they also look at people's gait, as well as their genitals", Webster said, which they accompany with conspiracy theories. The fake claims about Brigitte Macron have become so widespread partly because they build on the public's perception that politicians are inherently deceitful. Other factors include "the conspiratorial element which is transphobic and is underpinned by discourses that there is some kind of trans cabal that is seeking to take power over particular industries", explained Webster. Candace Owens' preoccupation with Brigitte Macron has led other prominent figures, such as known conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, to also relay the claim. "Barack Obama has been plagued with gay rumours for a long time, and this is embedded in those discourses of Michelle Obama secretly being trans, and Emmanuel Macron, who is also being discredited largely because of other elements of his relationship", Webster told EuroVerify. "Right-wing or alt-right users are fuelling these claims, but we also know many platforms are inundated with bots who construct and reconstruct discourses based on what they know works well, which creates an engagement trap as people like, comment and repost", Webster added. However, even those who reshare the content to laugh at it also help keep it alive. "The online satirical community which points out these kinds of networks of hate and reshares them to laugh at the absurdity also generates engagement", Webster said. Fake news report about Brigitte Macron emerges online Despite there being no evidence to back up any of the false claims about Brigitte Macron, they have with time become increasingly bold and innovative — both in style and substance — rather than dying down. For instance, in early July, a video styled as a TV news report surfaced on social media and garnered hundreds of thousands of views every time it was reposted. The video opens with shots of a crime scene, as a narrator alleges that a surgeon named François Faivre — who had supposedly planned on revealing information about Brigitte Macron's alleged gender changing operation in a tell-all interview with a French tabloid — mysteriously fell out of a window in Paris on 29 June. However, the video, just as the claim, is fake. Through a reverse image search, EuroVerify traced the opening shots of the video to AFP footage available on YouTube, which showed a crime scene in Paris back in October 2022 — so not 29 June 2025. Furthermore, the surgeon in the video claims he worked at the American Hospital in Paris. The private healthcare practice told EuroVerify it had no records of a surgeon named François Faivre. Although the face of the fake surgeon could be a real person's, he barely blinks in the video, which points to the fact that his speech has likely been AI-generated. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the story of the surgeon is fake, conspiracy theories use tactful elements which sow doubt, such as the narrator's claims that Brigitte Macron underwent a sex change at the American Hospital in Paris. This claim is intentional and appears to play on previously established stories, given that in 2019, Brigitte Macron sued Closer magazine for invading her private life, after the publication alleged that the country's first lady underwent a three-hour plastic surgery at the American Hospital of Paris in July. "They take alleged medical evidence, for example, this person went into a hospital at this point, knowing that the person in question is not going to tell us what they were in hospital for", Webster told EuroVerify. In this case, conspiracy theorists could be taking advantage of the fact that politicians and their partners rarely address plastic surgery rumours, "in the political sphere there is also a desire not to come across as vain or shallow about appearance, beyond political appearance", added Webster. "No evidence is good enough to stop the rumour. Even if Brigitte Macron did share her birth certificate, online users could claim it has been forged or altered", said Webster. "Even if the Macrons win the defamation case against Candace Owens, I don't think there'll be any impact on the claims online."
Euronews
12-06-2025
- Euronews
Can AI chatbots speak in their own 'secret' language?
A viral video which shows three different chatbots speaking in their own "secret language" has amassed hundreds of thousands of views across various social media platforms. The clip shows three chatbots engaging in a phone call in English, in which they discuss "an employee's badge number". When the machines realise that they are all speaking to other bots, they ask each other whether they should switch to "Gibberlink", prompting them to start emitting high-pitched noises, in what appears to be something out of a science-fiction film. Gibberlink — a term which combines "gibberish" and "link" — is real. While use of the technology is limited, it enables AI engines to communicate in their own language. EuroVerify asked Anton Pidkuiko, who co-founded Gibberlink, to review a number of online clips. "Many of the videos are imitating an existing technology — they show phones which aren't really communicating and there is no signal between them, instead the sounds have been edited in and visuals have been taken from ChatGPT." Fake online videos purporting to show Gibberlink software have begun to emerge after the technology was created in February by Pidkuiko and fellow AI engineer Boris Starkov, during a 24-hour tech hackathon held in London. The pair combined ggwave — an existing open-source technology that enables data exchange through sound — with artificial intelligence. So, although AI can communicate in its own language, it is not "secret", as it is based on open-source data and is coded by humans. For Pidkuiko, the technology is comparable to QR codes. "Every supermarket item has a bar code which makes the shopping experience much more efficient." "Gibberlink is essentially this barcode — or think of it as a QR code — but over sound. Humans can look at QR code and just see black and white pieces. But QR codes don't scare people." While the use of Gibberlink technology is very limited at present, its creators believe it will become more mainstream, "as it stands, AI is able to make and receive phone calls," Pidkuiko said. "With time, we will see an increase in the number of these robot calls — and essentially more and more we will see that one AI is exchanging." Although this technology presents the risk of stripping humans of meaningful interactions, as well as replacing a further swath of unnecessary jobs, for Pidkuiko Gibberlink, it would be a means of maximising efficiency. "If you manage a restaurant and have a phone number that people call to book tables, you will sometimes receive calls in different languages," stated Pidkuiko. "However, if it's a robot that can speak every language and it is always available, the line is never blocked and you will have no language issues." "Another way the technology could be used, is if you want to book a restaurant, but don't want to ring 10 different places to ask if they have space, you can get AI to make the call and he restaurant can get AI to receive it. If they can communicate more quickly in their own language, it makes sense", concluded Pidkuiko. However, fears around what could happen if humans become unable to interpret AI communications are real, and in January the release of AI software DeepSeek R1 raised alarm. Researchers who had been working on the technology revealed they incentivised the software to find the right answers, regardless of whether its reasoning was comprehensible to humans. However, this led the AI to begin spontaneously switching from English to Chinese to achieve a result. When researchers forced the technology to stick to one language — to ensure that users could follow its processes — its capacity to find answers was hindered. This incident led industry experts to worry that incentivising AI to find the correct answers, without ensuring its processes can be untangled by humans, could lead AI to develop languages that cannot be understood. In 2017, Facebook abandoned an experiment after two AI programmes began conversing in a language which only they understood. Russia has lost more than 1 million troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Thursday. The figure — which reportedly comes out to 1,000,340 — includes killed, wounded or incapacitated Russian troops. According to the report, Russia has also lost 10,933 tanks, 22,786 armored fighting vehicles, 51,579 vehicles and fuel tanks, 29,063 artillery systems, 1,413 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,184 air defense systems, 416 airplanes, 337 helicopters, 40,435 drones, 3,337 cruise missiles, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine. 'The overall losses of the Russian occupying forces in manpower since the beginning of the full-scale invasion have reached 1 million,' Ukraine's General Staff stated. 'More than 628,000 occurred in just the past year and a half.' Releasing the report on Thursday, Ukraine's General Staff said that the one-million mark is not just a statistic but a symbol of resistance and resilience. 'One million. That's how much the enemy's offensive potential has diminished,' the General Staff wrote. '1 million who could have destroyed us, but whom we destroyed instead.' The statement went on to highlight the symbolic meaning behind this figure, referencing the sites of Moscow's defeats and losses in Ukraine, "in the Red Forest near Chernobyl, in the waters of the Dnipro near Antonivsky Bridge, in Donbas and Kharkiv region. And the the bottom of the Black Sea, where the cruiser Moskva sank." 'This million neutralised occupiers is our response. Our memory of Bucha, Irpin, Kupyansk, Kherson... About the bombed-out maternity hospital in Mariupol and the Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian missile. About the tears of children, civilians shot dead, and destroyed homes.' Kyiv also expressed gratitude to every Ukrainian soldier who contributed to the fight, reaffirming that "every eliminated occupier is another step toward a just peace." 'Today, we've taken more than a million such steps.' the General Staff concluded. Ukraine started publicly tracking and publishing Russian losses on 1 March 2022, when the count stood at 5,710 killed and 200 captured. Ever since, the losses have been increasing every year. In 2022, Russia lost 106,720 troops, averaging 340 per day, according to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces. In 2023, the losses more than doubled to an average of 693 per day and 253,290 troops. In 2024, daily losses crossed the 1,000 threshold and totalled at 430,790 troops. This year, Russia has been losing on average 1,286 troops per day. Ukraine's General Staff numbers are in line with the estimates of Ukraine's western allies. At the beginning of April, Deutsche Welle reported that according to a senior NATO official Russia's losses surpassed 900,000 troops, including 250,000 deaths, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Ukraine and Russia do not publicly disclose their losses. In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield since early 2022. He also said nearly 380,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been injured and "tens of thousands" remained either "missing in action" or being held in Russian captivity.
Euronews
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
EU proposes fresh sanctions on Russia's oil, banks and Nord Stream
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, social media has seen a spike in misinformation and videos purporting to show footage of Moscow's war — when the images in reality originate from video games. For instance, videos allegedly showing Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb — which was carried out by Ukraine's Security Service on 1 June — have been shared widely online. EuroVerify reviewed a series of these clips, which have racked up hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook and YouTube. Although at first glance they could appear to show scenes of war — such as missiles, drones, and infrastructure being bombarded — the clips do not have any clear signs which certify their authenticity. By conducting a reverse image search, EuroVerify found that a number of clips claiming to show Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb have in fact been misleadingly captioned and taken out of context — in reality, they match gaming videos posted by a YouTube channel called UWC. The channel's biography states that "all videos on the channel are a simulation of combat operations in the game Arma 3. We are against this terrible war and we want a peaceful sky over the heads of Ukrainians." Despite this mention, the channel — like many other similar gaming channels — posts videos which bare misleading titles such as "Ukrainian most massive drone raid destroys two largest Russian factories 1,000 km from borders" and "Daring Ukrainian FPV drone swarm raid destroys 40 Russian nuclear bombers: Tu-95, Tu-160, Tu-22M". The gaming developer studio Bohemia Interactive, which created Arma 3, separately reviewed videos sent by EuroVerify, which have been posted across social media platforms, and confirmed that they were made using a "modded" version of Arma 3. Video game "modding" is a popular activity for gamers, where they customise a game's features or visuals on their own or with the help of third-party plugins and other materials. Bohemia Interactive, like many other video game developers, has come out against its products being used as 'war propaganda'. While video game footage has consistently been taken out of context in relation to Russia's war in Ukraine, this is also the case for other wars and conflicts — as video game recordings have also been presented as footage of the Israel-Hamas war, as well as the recent tensions between India and Pakistan on social media. Determining whether footage is real can be a very complex task, which has even led certain media outlets to air video game clips on TV. In November 2022, Romanian channel Antena 3 broadcast an old Arma 3 video, which it alleged showed fighting in Ukraine, additionally asking a former defence minister and a former intelligence chief to comment on the images as if they were authentic. The European Union has formally proposed a fresh round of sanctions against Russia to pressure the Kremlin into accepting a 30-day unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, a step that Western allies consider an indispensable prelude to serious peace negotiations. If approved by member states, it would mark the 18th package of sanctions since February 2022, the largest regime ever imposed by the bloc. The latest proposal, unveiled on Tuesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and High Representative Kaja Kallas, expands the blacklist of Russian banks and "shadow fleet" tankers. So far, Brussel has targeted over 350 vessels from the poorly kept fleet, which has been accused of engaging in sabotage and vandalism. The plan also features a ban on the Nord Stream pipelines that connect Russia and Germany underwater. The pipelines are currently non-operational and Berlin has ruled out the prospect of re-starting gas transit after the war comes to an end. The most notable element of the proposed package is a downward revision of the price cap on Russia's seaborne oil, which was established at G7 level in December 2022. The cap was set at $60 per barrel of crude and has remained unchanged since then, despite ample fluctuations in Russia's trade and evidence of circumvention. The Nordics and the Baltics have long called for a revision to reflect market dynamics. In theory, the EU could pass new legislation to bring down the level of the cap on its own in an attempt to further squeeze Moscow's profits. However, doing so without the participation of the United States could create a cacophony and weaken the initiative, which is supposed to have worldwide effect. Until now, Donald Trump has refused to apply new sanctions against Russia, even if his rhetoric towards Vladimir Putin had hardened over the slow pace in negotiations and the continued barrage of attacks against Ukrainian cities. Trump's position has driven a wedge across the Western front, with the EU, the UK and Canada moving ahead with fresh restrictions while Washington takes a step back. The tensions in the alliance will come to the fore on Sunday during a G7 summit in Canada, where the revision of the price cap will be high on the agenda. Meanwhile, EU officials and diplomats insist on piling extra pressure on the Kremlin regardless of the course of action that the White House chooses to take. Trump's direction, though, could influence deliberations in Brussels, as unanimity among the 27 member states is required to approve the 18th package. Hungary and Slovakia have in recent months ramped up their criticism against sanctions, arguing they cause more damage to the bloc's economy than to Russia's. Earlier this year, Hungary threatened to veto the renewal of all sectorial sanctions, an against-the-clock experience that prompted officials to start working on legal shortcuts, particularly with a view to protecting the estimated €210 billion in Russia's frozen assets. Last week, Slovakia's parliament narrowly passed a resolution urging the government to oppose further trade restrictions against Russia. "If there is a sanction that would harm us, I will never vote for it," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said after the vote in parliament. "I am interested in being a constructive player in the European Union, but not at the expense of Slovakia." Still, for all their antagonistic talk, neither Hungary nor Slovakia has gone as far as completely preventing the adoption of a new package of sanctions. Nine people were killed in a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz on Tuesday, according to interior ministry officials and the domestic press. Mayor Elke Kahr, who initially said that eight people — seven students and one adult —were among the dead, described the event as a 'terrible tragedy,' the Austria Press Agency reported. Kahr said that many people were taken to hospitals with injuries. Kahr later said that the death toll rose to 10, but it was unclear whether this figure includes the alleged perpetrator, who also died in the aftermath of the attack. The police confirmed that the figure included the attacker. The Austrian interior ministry previously confirmed there were several casualties, but has not revealed any further details. State broadcaster ORF reported that students and teachers were among those injured. At least 30 people were admitted to hospital for treatment in relation to the shooting, with some seriously injured, the local press said. The suspected perpetrator, reportedly a former student armed with a pistol and a shotgun, killed himself when approached by armed police officers. A police operation was under way at the BORG high school on Dreierschuetzengasse street on Tuesday morning. Graz Police spokesperson Sabri Yorgun said special Cobra units were among those sent to the high school after a call was received at 10 am, and that authorities were working to gain an overview of what had happened. Other emergency services and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene. At 11:30 am, police wrote on social network X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point. They wrote that the situation was 'secured' and it was no longer believed to be any danger. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said the shooting 'is a national tragedy that deeply shocks our whole country.' 'There are no words for the pain and grief that all of us — the whole of Austria — feel now,' he wrote in a statement posted on X. President Alexander Van der Bellen said that 'this horror cannot be captured in words.' 'These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their way,' he said. 'Schools are symbols for youth, hope and the future,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. 'It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence.' Graz is a city of some 300,000 and is the capital of the southern Austrian province of Styria.
Euronews
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Fake war clips from video games mislead millions on social media
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, social media has seen a spike in misinformation and videos purporting to show footage of Moscow's war — when the images in reality originate from video games. For instance, videos allegedly showing Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb — which was carried out by Ukraine's Security Service on 1 June — have been shared widely online. EuroVerify reviewed a series of these clips, which have racked up hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook and YouTube. Although at first glance they could appear to show scenes of war — such as missiles, drones, and infrastructure being bombarded — the clips do not have any clear signs which certify their authenticity. By conducting a reverse image search, EuroVerify found that a number of clips claiming to show Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb have in fact been misleadingly captioned and taken out of context — in reality, they match gaming videos posted by a YouTube channel called UWC. The channel's biography states that "all videos on the channel are a simulation of combat operations in the game Arma 3. We are against this terrible war and we want a peaceful sky over the heads of Ukrainians." Despite this mention, the channel — like many other similar gaming channels — posts videos which bare misleading titles such as "Ukrainian most massive drone raid destroys two largest Russian factories 1,000 km from borders" and "Daring Ukrainian FPV drone swarm raid destroys 40 Russian nuclear bombers: Tu-95, Tu-160, Tu-22M". The gaming developer studio Bohemia Interactive, which created Arma 3, separately reviewed videos sent by EuroVerify, which have been posted across social media platforms, and confirmed that they were made using a "modded" version of Arma 3. Video game "modding" is a popular activity for gamers, where they customise a game's features or visuals on their own or with the help of third-party plugins and other materials. Bohemia Interactive, like many other video game developers, has come out against its products being used as 'war propaganda'. While video game footage has consistently been taken out of context in relation to Russia's war in Ukraine, this is also the case for other wars and conflicts — as video game recordings have also been presented as footage of the Israel-Hamas war, as well as the recent tensions between India and Pakistan on social media. Determining whether footage is real can be a very complex task, which has even led certain media outlets to air video game clips on TV. In November 2022, Romanian channel Antena 3 broadcast an old Arma 3 video, which it alleged showed fighting in Ukraine, additionally asking a former defence minister and a former intelligence chief to comment on the images as if they were authentic. Nine people were killed in a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz on Tuesday, according to interior ministry officials and the domestic press. Mayor Elke Kahr, who initially said that eight people — seven students and one adult —were among the dead, described the event as a 'terrible tragedy,' the Austria Press Agency reported. Kahr said that many people were taken to hospitals with injuries. Kahr later said that the death toll rose to 10, but it was unclear whether this figure includes the alleged perpetrator, who also died in the aftermath of the attack. The police confirmed that the figure included the attacker. The Austrian interior ministry previously confirmed there were several casualties, but has not revealed any further details. State broadcaster ORF reported that students and teachers were among those injured. Some 28 people were admitted to hospital for treatment in relation to the shooting, the local press said. The suspected perpetrator, reportedly a former student armed with a pistol and a shotgun, killed himself when approached by armed police officers. A police operation was under way at the BORG high school on Dreierschuetzengasse street on Tuesday morning. Graz Police spokesperson Sabri Yorgun said special Cobra units were among those sent to the high school after a call was received at 10 am, and that authorities were working to gain an overview of what had happened. Other emergency services and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene. At 11:30 am, police wrote on social network X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point. They wrote that the situation was 'secured' and it was no longer believed to be any danger. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said the shooting 'is a national tragedy that deeply shocks our whole country.' 'There are no words for the pain and grief that all of us — the whole of Austria — feel now,' he wrote in a statement posted on X. President Alexander Van der Bellen said that 'this horror cannot be captured in words.' 'These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their way,' he said. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner was on his way to Graz. 'Schools are symbols for youth, hope and the future,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. 'It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence.' Graz is a city of some 300,000 and is the capital of the southern Austrian province of Styria.
