Nepal 'cloudburst' video is AI generated
"Live video footage of cloudburst in Nepal," reads the Hindi-language caption of a video posted on X on May 25, 2025.
It appears to show torrents of water emptying out of a cloud onto already flooded fields.
It was shared as monsoon rains in eastern Nepal caused at least one death, according to the Kathmandu Post, as well as widespread flooding and disruptions to transport (archived link).
Meteorologists in Nepal said the monsoon clouds had entered the country two weeks ahead of schedule, with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority predicting that around two million could be affected by monsoon-related disasters (archived link).
Image
Screenshot of the false X video, captured on June 6, 2025
The video was also shared among Hindi-speaking users on Facebook and Instagram.
"What a terrifying scene... it seems like water gushing out of a dam," reads a comment on one of the posts.
Another comment reads: "A very scary scene... May God protect everyone."
But Nepalese authorities told AFP that no such weather phenomena had occurred in the country.
"Monsoon (season) has begun in Nepal so many areas are receiving rain. But there has been no incident of any cloudburst recently," Dinkar Kayastha, an information officer with the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, said on June 5.
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same footage posted in a YouTube short on May 19 (archived link).
The video's includes the hashtag "AI", and the user who posted the video also posted others with the same hashtag that appear to have been AI generated (archived link).
Image
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and YouTube short posted in May 2025 (right)
The director of Purdue University's Machine Learning and Media Forensics Lab, Shu Hu, also told AFP that there are visual inconsistencies in the video which confirm the clip was generated using AI ().
"The red roof was absent at the beginning of the video but appeared later," .
Image
Screenshots of the visual inconsistencies in the falsely shared video
AFP has debunked other false claims that utilised AI-generated footage here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
10 hours ago
- France 24
Pogacar seeks century as Tour de France returns to its roots
After starts in Florence, Bilbao and Copenhagen, cycling's most prestigious race returns to its roots with an old school itinerary favouring climbers. "We decided to bring the Tour home, it was high time after all the foreign starts," said race director Christian Prudhomme. Every inch of this year's 21-day course is on French soil, for the first time since the pandemic-delayed edition, with most of the country placed on a heatwave alert in the week leading up to the race. Temperatures in the south of France topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, with large swathes of the country bracing for similar conditions in the coming days. The heatwave is expected to subside by the end of the week, but riders will still be tested to their limits over the peaks and plains of France lauded in cycling folklore as "the world's most beautiful stadium". "Great settings for great heroes," said Prudhomme, a former TV executive who has transformed the race into a global extravaganza broadcast in 190 countries. For 21 days this July, the daily doings of this most arduous of sporting struggles provides the drumbeat of summer, with armchair tourists and cycling fanatics alike tuning in around the world. Team UAE's Pogacar starts as red-hot favourite with fans and bookmakers alike, and he can silence any remaining doubters by beating arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard of Visma. American former champion Greg LeMond told AFP in a recent interview it would be a close call. "Pogacar is like the one in a million, but you can't count Vingegaard out. That's what's making cycling so exciting right now," said LeMond, who won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990. Glimpses of Pogacar and Vingegaard going head-to-head on the Alpine slopes or along the panoramic roads of the French Riviera provide tension, drama and sporting rivalry as enthralling as any involving the old-time legends. Ready to attack at the slightest provocation, the 26-year-old Pogacar has 21 chances to add to his jaw-dropping 99 professional wins. Mission clarity Vingegaard tends to focus on a single-mission strategy, awaiting one big moment to spring a deeply considered killer move at a meticulously chosen spot. Vingegaard's Visma team boss Grischa Niermann confirmed this week he believed in the plan he has made for the Tour de France. "We think we can get the best possible result." The pair have won the past five editions of the Tour de France between them and should be increasingly in the spotlight as the race advances. A total of 184 riders from 23 teams will gather in Lille for the Grand Depart, with local authorities preparing for a massive influx of fans from nearby cycling-mad Belgium. And aggressive, hotly contested battles for the right to the overall leader's yellow jersey are expected in the opening stages, as are huge roadside crowds of several hundred thousand each day. Belgian star Remco Evenepoel will be well supported as the first week takes in the north coast at Dunkirk and Caen, scenes of ferocious fighting in World War II, before shifting to another cycling heartland in Brittany with its verdant, rolling roads. The volcanoes of the Puy de Dome present the first mountains as late as stage 10, with two more colossal climb days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps. But before any dash towards the eventual finish line on the Champs-Elysees there is one final twist. A last-minute addition to the 2025 route is a nod to the 2024 Olympic Games road race, which drew vast crowds to the old Parisian neighbourhood of Montmartre. On the final day a cauldron of noise up the narrow cobbled climb to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica provides one final obstacle, after which the winner will be crowned. © 2025 AFP
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Cold baths, climate shelters as Southern Europe heatwave intensifies
Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots and regions issued fire warnings as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent. Peaks of 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) were expected in areas of southern Spain and Portugal, while nearly all of France is sweltering in heat expected to last for several days. In Italy, 21 cities were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence and Rome. "We were supposed to be visiting the Colosseum, but my mum nearly fainted," said British tourist Anna Becker, who had travelled to Rome from a "muggy, miserable" Verona. Hospital emergency departments across Italy have reported an uptick in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine. "We've seen around a 10 percent increase, mainly in cities that not only have very high temperatures but also a higher humidity rate. It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue," he told AFP. 'Climate shelters' Hospitals like the Ospedale dei Colli in Naples have set up dedicated heatstroke pathways to speed access to vital treatments like cold water immersion, Guarino said. In Venice, authorities offered free guided tours for people over 75s in air-conditioned museums and public buildings. Bologna has set up seven "climate shelters" with air conditioning and drinking water, Florence has called on doctors to flag up the lonely and vulnerable, Ancona is delivering dehumidifiers to the needy, and Rome has offered free access to city swimming pools for those over 70. Scientists say climate change is stoking hotter and more intense heatwaves, particularly in cities where the so-called "urban heat island" effect amplifies temperatures among tightly packed buildings. "The heat waves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense in recent years, with peaks of 37 degrees or even more in cities, where the urban heat island effect raises the temperatures even further," said Emanuela Piervitali, a researcher at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). "A further increase in temperature and heat extremes is expected in the future, so we will have to get used to temperatures with peaks even higher than those we are experiencing now," she told AFP. Invasive species In Portugal, several areas in the southern half of the country, including the capital Lisbon, are under a red warning for heat until Monday night due to "persistently extremely high maximum temperature values", according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA). Two-thirds of Portugal was on high alert Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires, as was the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters tackled 15 blazes Saturday. In France, experts warned that the heat was also severely impacting biodiversity. "With this stifling heat, the temperature can exceed 40 degrees in some nests," said Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO). "We are taking in birds in difficulty everywhere; our seven care centres are saturated," he said. It is also attracting invasive species, which are thriving in the more tropical climes. Italy's ISPRA launched a campaign this week urging fishermen and tourists alike to report sightings of four "potentially dangerous" venomous species. The lionfish, silver-cheeked toadfish, dusky spinefoot and marbled spinefoot are beginning to appear in waters off southern Italy as the Mediterranean warms, it said. © 2025 AFP
Local France
2 days ago
- Local France
Europe bakes in summer's first heatwave as continent warms
Temperatures are set to rise to 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) in Rome, driving the Eternal City's many tourists and Catholic pilgrims to the Vatican alike towards the Italian capital's 2,500 public fountains for refreshment. With residents of the southern French port city of Marseille expected to have to cope with temperatures nearing 40C (104F), authorities in the country's second-largest city ordered public swimming pools to be made free of charge to help residents beat the Mediterranean heat. Two-thirds of Portugal will be on high alert on Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires, with 42C (108F) expected in the capital Lisbon, while guests at – and protesters against – Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos's Friday wedding in Venice sweltered under the summer sun. "I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and never stay still, because that's when you get sunstroke," Sriane Mina, an Italian student, told AFP on Friday in Venice. Scientists have long warned that humanity's burning of fossil fuels is heating up the world with disastrous consequences for the environment, with Europe's ever-hotter and increasingly common blistering summer heatwaves a direct result of that warming. The heatwave is forecast to become even more intense on Sunday. Spain, which has in past years seen a series of deadly summer blazes ravaging the Iberian peninsula, is expecting peak temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) across most of the country. Outdoor work ban According to the Spanish meteorological agency, temperatures may even register 42C (108F) in some areas, including the Guadalquivir, Guadiana, and Tagus regions. The past three years have been the hottest in Spain's history. Advertisement With peaks of 39C (102F) expected in Naples and Palermo, Sicily has ordered a ban on outdoor work in the hottest hours of the day, as has the Liguria region in northern Italy. The country's trade unions are campaigning to extend the measure to other parts of the country. In Nice, on the French Riviera, nearly 250 portable fans have been distributed to schools over the past two weeks to help cope with the heat. The heatwave comes hot on the heels of a series of tumbling records for extreme heat, including Europe's hottest March ever, according to the EU's Copernicus climate monitor. As a result of the planet's warming, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves like this weekend's have become more frequent and intense, scientists warn. By some estimates 2024, the hottest year in recorded history so far, saw worldwide disasters that cost more than $300 billion.
