Month: February 2023

Driver of Small Truck Hits Pedestrians in New York

Posted on by SeeUS

Police in New York said Monday a man drove a small U-Haul rental truck onto a sidewalk in Brooklyn, striking multiple people before he was taken into custody.

A police official told The Associated Press that at least eight pedestrians were injured, and two are in critical condition.

Police pursued the truck on a chase through the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, stopping it 5 kilometers away before the vehicle entered a tunnel to Manhattan. Video from news helicopters over the scene showed the truck pinned next to a building, its path blocked by a police cruiser.

New York City councilmember Justin Brannan tweeted, “We have no idea of motives at this time, but this wasn’t an accident.”

He told WABC-TV in New York that “police approached this driver and tried to get him to pull over, and at that time, he said something to the effect of, ‘I want to die,’ and then proceeded to start driving on the sidewalks in Bay Ridge.”

The station reported that police called in a bomb squad to search for explosives in the vehicle but found nothing suspicious.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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African Businesswomen Press for AU Border Harassment Dialogue

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African women and girls are discussing the harassment and discrimination challenges they face trying to conduct cross-border business under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The meeting in Addis Ababa, called “Gender is My Agenda,” is taking place ahead of the African Union heads of state summit, which is set to begin Saturday and is expected to address progress of the African trade agreement.

Elizabeth Ajok, a South Sudanese national, said women often face problems at border crossings that men don’t have to experience.

“They are facing a lot of challenges like violence at the border, they are being intimidated, and sometimes some of their items are being confiscated or their goods are taken because of clearance,” Ajok said. “And they will also overcharge you because you are a woman. You will be taxed. Sometimes they just look at us. They see that you are just a woman, so you don’t deserve to do business.”

Zaithwa Milzanzi said she encounters similar treatment when she crosses the border from her native Malawi.

“You find yourself with required fees, the papers are in order, everything is in order and yet you find some officers at the border asking you for sexual things and you are thinking, ‘Why?'” Milzanzi said. “It really hinders your progress and your ability to trade as a young woman. So, this needs to be addressed if young women are to be considered and fully protected under this regime.”

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement went into effect in May 2019 with the goal of lowering tariffs between African countries and boosting economies.

African countries trading among themselves, the World Bank says, could boost Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035.

Memory Kachambwa, head of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network, an organization that promotes women’s development in the continent, talked of the questions that need to be addressed.

“When we talk of AfCFTA, we are looking at [a] Pan-African instrument and within the vision of it is to ensure that even the trade that we do is dignified,” Kachambwa said. “We talk a lot about women cross-border traders, but are they doing it in a dignified way? Are we really ensuring that they have the service, the harassment with the customs union? Are we having those conversations?”

Even within their own countries, female entrepreneurs in Africa often face funding barriers, gender bias, and a lack of training.

Mercy Chukwuma, who advocates and supports women farmers in Nigeria, said some cultural norms have prevented women from owning land, making them unable to produce food.

“Lack of training and retraining of rural women farmers to enable them to stand up in the competitive market. We talk about land as a factor. You will agree with me that women have limited access to land. We do not have access and control over the land, which is a major factor of production,” she said. “If we, who occupy over 70% of the agricultural workforce, do not have access and control over the land, how then do we produce and produce well?”

Women own 20% of Africa’s land but produce more than two-thirds of the continent’s food.

The pre-summit meeting concludes on Tuesday. Participants hope their leaders will address the challenges of doing business in Africa and ending unfriendly business practices along African borders.
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Nigeria Sees Uptick in Election Violence Ahead of Polls 

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Nigeria’s National Peace Committee says election-related violence is spiking as the country’s February 25 national polls draw near. During weekend campaign rallies, gunmen attacked a security team of a vice-presidential candidate, killing three police. At another rally, supporters were attacked with machetes, injuring several, and damaging campaign vehicles. 

Idayat Hassan is the spokesperson for the National Peace Committee, a government-sponsored body of former heads of state and officials attempting to promote calm and stability in the country.

Speaking to Lagos-based Channels Television, Hassan raised concerns about the increased attacks at campaign events and said Sunday that authorities must prohibit anyone, apart from security agents, from bringing weapons to campaign rallies.

“The casualties are higher, and the numbers of incidents are rising,” he said. “There have been more than 134 attacks on INEC [Independent National Electoral Commission] facilities and personnel. It is quite disturbing that this is actually happening at this point in time. If this continues, how can we have elections?”

On Friday, unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed three members of the security team for Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

On Sunday, Okowa visited the families of the slain security officers and condemned the killings.

In another incident, one person was killed and five arrested after a violent clash between supporters of the PDP and the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) party during a campaign rally in northern Jigawa state.

Hours later, many supporters of the Labour Party were attacked and injured by thugs on their way to a rally in Lagos, a stronghold of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Paul James is a program officer at Yiaga Africa, a nonprofit that promotes democratic elections.

“For elections to be concluded in Nigeria, a candidate has to score a quarter of the votes in at least 24 states,” he said. “Politicians are using violence in different forms as a means of voter suppression. So, what we’re seeing is the build-up of terror, the build-up of fear so that it perhaps impacts on citizens’ participation for the politician especially the ones that are having the sense that they may not be able to pull the national spread that is required for the election.”

Kolawole Oluwadare, deputy director at the Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project, says authorities have been hesitant to address the problem.

The rights group petitioned the International Criminal Court, to investigate election-related violence and hold the Nigerian perpetrators accountable.

“Poverty, rising rates of unemployment… can be remote causes but the impunity of [the] government is a key driver of these incidents which is why you’ll see that lack of political will to either take action to prevent these attacks,” said Oluwadare.

On Monday Nigeria’s electoral commission said voting will not take place in 240 polling units across 28 states mainly due to a lack of registered voters in those areas. The voters didn’t choose those polling units due to insecurity. Imo state had the highest number of cancelled polling units, 38.

The election comes amid growing frustrations among citizens, caused in part by shortages of fuel and the newly designed currency.

In Abuja Monday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled new police vehicles, tasers, stun guns and anti-riot equipment, including cannons, designed to improve the operational capabilities of the Nigeria Police Force.

Whether this will make voters feel more secure— it is too soon to tell.
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Polish Officials Observe Training of Ukrainians on New Tanks

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Poland’s president and defense minister met Monday with Polish and foreign instructors intensively training Ukrainian troops to operate the German-made Leopard 2 tanks that some European countries and Canada have offered Kyiv to help fight the Russian invasion.

President Andrzej Duda and minister Mariusz Blaszczak also watched Leopard 2 training at a military base and test range in Swietoszow, in southwestern Poland. The training is part of the European Union’s military assistance to Ukraine, but Canadian instructors also have a role, as do Norwegians.

Taking part are Ukrainian tank crews from units fighting in the east of the country. The intensive training lasts up to 10 hours a day, including weekends, the Polish military said. Instruction is also being held in Germany.

Duda voiced hope the tanks would help Ukrainian forces “in a much more efficient way to defeat the enemy.”

He said the Ukrainian trainees have come straight from the front line. “You can see in their faces that these people have gone through terrible things, but they are determined to defend their homeland.”

A Polish instructor, Senior Staff Warrant Officer Krzysztof Sieradzki, said the Ukrainians are so motivated to learn everything fast that the instructors “have to hold them back and transfer knowledge to them in small batches.”

The trainees’ commander, Major Vadym Khodak, said they all have combat experience.

“They didn’t come from the street, they’ve been fighting on our tanks for a long time, so I think learning how to operate these tanks will be a lot easier,” said Khodak, who’s from Dnipro in eastern Ukraine.

Khodak said the modern tanks would be a great help.

“If we learn how to use them, we will put them to test in combat conditions and it will give a great effect,” he said.

Stationed in Swietoszow are Poland’s 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade and a U.S. armored cavalry combat group.

Warsaw is among the most active supporters of neighboring Ukraine, and has pushed European nations to provide the Leopard 1 and 2 tanks. Germany has pledged at least 178 Leopard 1 tanks and 14 Leopard 2s. Poland has pledged 14 Leopard 2s. Other contributing countries include Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, while Britain has pledged Challenger tanks and the U.S. its M1 Abrams main battle tanks.

Duda especially thanked Germany for allowing the German-made tanks to be made available to Kyiv and for its own contribution.

Poland has also provided or pledged more than 300 of its Soviet-era T-72 tanks and modernized PT-91 tanks.

Ukrainian officials say they expect Russian forces to make a new drive in eastern and southern Ukraine, as the Kremlin strives to secure territory it illegally annexed in late September and where it claims its rule is welcomed.

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said last week that the first battalion of 31 Leopard 1 tanks in Ukraine should be ready in April. The first Ukrainian soldiers to be trained on the tanks departed for Germany last week.
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Official, Human Rights Group: Militia Attacks Kill 22 in East DR Congo

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Militiamen killed 22 people in two separate attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Ituri province on Sunday and Monday, a local official and a human rights group said, in ongoing violence in the region.

The DRC’s government declared martial law in Ituri and neighboring North Kivu province in 2021 to quell the bloodshed, but deadly raids have continued.

The first attack on Sunday took place in the town of Mongbwalu, in Djugu territory, where 10 people were killed.

Mongbwalu Mayor Jean-Pierre Bikilisende blamed the attack on CODECO, one of many militias operating in the DRC’s conflict-ridden east. The group could not be reached for comment.

Bikilisende told Reuters the rebels opened fire on a phone credit seller and then on other civilians standing on the same street before escaping in a car when police arrived.

The second attack occurred around 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, in Irumu territory, during the night between Sunday and Monday.

Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the local group Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRDH), said 12 villagers were killed.

He said the attackers were from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group that has operated in east Congo for decades. It has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and stages frequent deadly raids on villages.

Munyanderu also confirmed the 10 deaths in Mongbwalu.

The ADF could not be reached for comment and the DRC’s army did not respond to calls.

There was no indication as to the motive of either attack, but militia violence has racked the vast mineral-rich east for two decades despite local and regional military interventions and U.N. peacekeeping efforts.
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Cameroon Hails President’s 90th Birthday, Supporters Call for Another Term 

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Cameroon is celebrating the 90th birthday of President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of government. Supporters say they hope he will extend his four decades in power when the next election comes in 2025. Opponents say Biya has become authoritarian and cite concerns about his health. Young people, especially students, have been forced to take part in Biya’s birthday activities.

This song, Rigor, by Cameroon’s legendary artist, Jojo Ngalle, blasts through speakers at the 5,000-seat Multipurpose Sports Complex in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé.

Ngalle says in the song that Biya should be credited for bringing rigor and moralization to Cameroon.

Among the senior state functionaries celebrating the anniversary is Philemon Yang, Cameroon’s immediate past prime minister and Biya’s close collaborator.

Yang says he is celebrating an exceptionally good leader who has brought peace and development to Cameroon.

“We are celebrating longevity, achievements, political achievements, economic achievements, you can imagine democratization, that is a big achievement. So we are celebrating many things,” he said. “Rigor is with us, moralization is with us and, most of all, living together. These are psychological achievements which can never be reduced to nothing. We don’t see them, they are invisible but extremely important to us.”

The government says public places in towns and villages across Cameroon hosted activities Monday marking Biya’s 90th birthday.

Biya has been Cameroon’s president since 1982. He took over from Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahijo. Biya served as prime minister for seven years before becoming president.

He has won all multiparty elections since 1992, although opposition parties have always complained the elections were heavily rigged.

In 2008, he removed term limits from the constitution, allowing him to serve indefinitely. His current mandate ends in 2025.

During the birthday celebrations Monday, Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party called on the nonagenarian to seek another term.

If Biya were to win the 2025 election, he would be 95 when the mandate ends in 2030.

The government says young people came out voluntarily to celebrate because they love Biya.

However, geography teacher Henry Mbiydzenyuy says the government instructed secondary school and university students to attend the celebrations.

“I was born in the mid-eighties, Biya was already the president of Cameroon. I am almost 40 years [old] and the man is still the president of Cameroon. It’s hurting. Cameroonians need a change. If people are celebrating Biya, throwing parties and calling students to come join them, it’s hypocrisy at its highest level,” he said.

Biya was not physically present at his Yaoundé birthday celebration. Local media often raise concerns about his age and health. But the government says Biya is in excellent shape.

Biya was last seen in public on February 10, while delivering a message for Cameroon Youth Day, celebrated the following day.

In the message, Biya asked young people to count on him and his government for more development projects, schools, universities, roads, hospitals, electricity and water.

However, opposition political parties blame Biya for what they call an economic disaster in Cameroon despite the central African state’s rich natural resources.

Violet Fokum is the executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy. She says Biya has not been able to solve rampant corruption and the separatist crisis that have killed more than 3,500 people since 2017.

“Look at the number of children who have dropped out of school. Ten percent of girls marry before the ages of 15, and then 31[%] by the age of 18. Schools have been shut down. When these kids are on the streets, they are recruited as child soldiers or they become bush wives to nonstate armed groups,” she said.

The 90-year-old Biya is the world’s oldest serving leader and Africa’s second-longest serving president after his neighbor Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea. Obiang has been in power since 1979.
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Q&A: Fentanyl Is ‘Global Problem,’ US Working With Western Hemisphere to Stop Deadly Drug 

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The Biden administration says it’s working with the governments of Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador to combat a documented rise in the availability and lethality of illegal drugs containing fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be up to 100 times stronger than morphine.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the potency of pills is rising — in 2022, six out of 10 pills contained a potentially lethal dose of the narcotic.

President Joe Biden mentioned the deadly drug in his recent State of the Union address, in which he spoke of “a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers, seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months.”

And Biden outlined his administration’s plan to tackle the epidemic in different ways, including funding screening measures, checking packages and “expanding access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery.”

VOA’s Jorge Agobian spoke to Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, to find out how the U.S. is battling the overdose epidemic both inside and beyond its borders.

“The problem of fentanyl and synthetic drugs is not limited exclusively to the United States or Mexico,” Gupta said. “It’s a global problem. And secondly, the supply chain is also global. So whether it’s precursor chemicals that are converted into fentanyl, coming from China into Mexico or North America, or the synthesis of these drugs, we need to be making sure that we’re monitoring all of it, and we’re addressing specific choke points in this supply chain.”

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: A key component of President Biden’s State of the Union address was the fentanyl crisis. What next steps will the administration take on this issue?

Dr. Rahul Gupta: Fentanyl is killing 70,000 Americans a year overall as part of the overdose crisis. It is a top priority for President Biden to address that. It’s important for us to make sure we have an education campaign, especially for children, to be aware and understand that they have the power to not only be aware about this deadly threat, but also maybe carry Naloxone, the antidote for it so they can help their friends and others.

Also, what we can do is to ensure that we have the treatment available to everybody who needs it. We know that far too many Americans today aren’t able to get the treatment. So along with the antidote, we’ve got to get more people into treatment, and he talked about how he had challenged Congress the year before about removing barriers to doctors to prescribing, and he worked in a bipartisan manner with both sides of Congress to get that to happen. And he signed that into law.

He also talked about how there’s controlling of the fentanyl-related substances already, but it’s temporary we need to make that permanent.

President Biden highlighted how we have through the highest levels of fentanyl seizures at the border — twice as much as 2020 and four times as much in 2019. Why? Because we’ve implemented technology to be able to detect more, but the problem doesn’t begin or end at the border. We have to work with Mexico.

VOA: What in this strategy is the role of Mexico cooperating with the United States? And how much does the United States rely on Mexico to prosecute?

Gupta: People in Mexico are dying from overdoses and poisoning from fentanyl just like in America. So it’s very important that we work with a shared sense of responsibility, to make sure that we’re working to secure our country to make sure that we’re going after the bad guys who are intending harming Americans as well as Mexicans at the same time, we’re working on enhancing public health treatment, and the antidote Naloxone or Narcan and make it available to anyone who needs it.

We have made sure that we’re providing as much assistance to Mexico in partnership as a key player in helping us, but we also want to make sure that we’re holding traffickers, manufacturers and others accountable for their actions by preying on vulnerable people. It’s important because we want to make sure that they’re not making profits off the back of unsuspecting people who are dying and being poisoned. So it’s important whether it is in the United States or across the border, that our governments hold bad actors accountable in a forceful way.

VOA: Does the White House believe that the war on drugs is ‘a failed campaign,’ as the president of Colombia has called it?

Gupta: When President (Gustavo) Petro was inaugurated in Colombia early last year, I went, as the first delegation from the United States. We had a long and good conversation, and I said to him, “Look, we recognize that not all policies have been proven to be successful of the United States. But the important part is that we have a problem where an American is dying every 5 minutes around the clock. You have a problem where the economy is dependent, a lot, on cocaine production. We need to work with our 200-year relationship productively to see how we can secure a future both for the American people and the Colombian people.’”

And we need to see the way forward which is humane, which is protective of the environment.

And we need to figure out how to get people gainful employment, give hope, and the ability to have economic development as a way to address this. And that’s exactly some of the things that we’re going to be working with countries like Colombia.

VOA: What about the other countries in the Western Hemisphere?

Gupta: We know that these profits and the drugs don’t only kill Americans, but the profits go back to cause more destabilization, more crime and corruption and violence. It’s very important for us as a global leader to continue to work as good partners with other countries across Latin America. And there’s a history of us working with them, but to make sure that we’re doing in a way that yields us results, mutual respect and mutual cooperation. So we can hold the bad actors accountable, while ensuring that people everywhere have a chance to live safely, securely and healthy.

VOA: And finally, what about Venezuela? There is no cooperation between the two governments, of course, but Venezuela is still a key player in all these industries.

Gupta: We’re going to continue to focus with our partners in Colombia, and as well as Ecuador, to make sure that people there are getting the support when it comes to both the people coming in from Venezuela as well as resources. And then that work will continue, you know, as far as so I don’t have anything new to report on that at this point, from a policy perspective.

Anita Powell contributed to this report.

FOR HELP:

The World Health Organization says there are three common signs and symptoms of an overdose: pinpoint pupils, unconsciousness and difficulties with breathing.

Learn more about overdoses in the WHO’s fact sheet.

For the unfamiliar, fentanyl goes by several nicknames. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lists several commonly used in the U.S.: Apache, China Girl, China Town, Dance Fever, Friend, Goodfellas, Great Bear, He-Man, Jackpot, King Ivory, Murder 8, and Tango & Cash.

Check the DEA’s website for details.
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Skiers Seek Climate Change Moves: ‘The Seasons Have Shifted’ 

Posted on by SeeEU

Overall World Cup winners Mikaela Shiffrin, Federica Brignone and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde are among nearly 200 athletes from multiple disciplines who have signed a letter addressed to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation demanding action over climate change.

The letter was delivered during the skiing world championships after warm weather and a lack of snow wiped out nearly a month of racing at the start of this season, with preseason training on melting European glaciers heading toward extinction and the impact of climate change on the schedule being seen even in January.

“It’s about time to address a really important topic,” Kilde said after earning a silver medal in downhill on Sunday. “We see that the world is changing. We see also the impact of our sport. … I want the future generations to experience winter and to be able to do what I do.”

The letter was written by Austrian downhiller Julian Schütter, an ambassador for the nonprofit organization Protect Our Winters, known as POW.

“We are already experiencing the effects of climate change in our everyday lives and our profession,” the athletes said in the letter. “The public opinion about skiing is shifting towards unjustifiability. … We need progressive organizational action. We are aware of the current sustainability efforts of FIS and rate them as insufficient.”

Olympic cross-country skiing champion Jessie Diggins and Freeride World Tour champions Arianna Tricomi and Xavier de le Rue were also among the letter’s signees.

“This is our most important race, let’s win it together,” the athletes said.

In terms of Alpine skiing, the athletes asked the federation, known as FIS, to shift the start of the season from late October to late November and the end of the season from mid-March to late April.

“The seasons have shifted and in the interest of us all we need to adapt to those new circumstances,” they said.

Racers also requested a more “geographically reasonable” race schedule to reduce carbon emissions, citing how the men’s circuit will have traveled from Europe to North America and back twice by the end of this season.

“The races of Beaver Creek in November and those in Aspen in February are 50 kilometers [30 miles] away from each other,” the skiers said, referring to the two Colorado resorts. “Planning those two races one after the other would reduce approximately 1,500 tons of [carbon emissions].”

The athletes also asked FIS to create a sustainability department.

There was no immediate response from FIS.
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Google to Expand Misinformation ‘Prebunking’ in Europe

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After seeing promising results in Eastern Europe, Google will initiate a new campaign in Germany that aims to make people more resilient to the corrosive effects of online misinformation.

The tech giant plans to release a series of short videos highlighting the techniques common to many misleading claims. The videos will appear as advertisements on platforms like Facebook, YouTube or TikTok in Germany. A similar campaign in India is also in the works.

It’s an approach called prebunking, which involves teaching people how to spot false claims before they encounter them. The strategy is gaining support among researchers and tech companies. 

“There’s a real appetite for solutions,” said Beth Goldberg, head of research and development at Jigsaw, an incubator division of Google that studies emerging social challenges. “Using ads as a vehicle to counter a disinformation technique is pretty novel. And we’re excited about the results.”

While belief in falsehoods and conspiracy theories isn’t new, the speed and reach of the internet has given them a heightened power. When catalyzed by algorithms, misleading claims can discourage people from getting vaccines, spread authoritarian propaganda, foment distrust in democratic institutions and spur violence.

It’s a challenge with few easy solutions. Journalistic fact checks are effective, but they’re labor intensive, aren’t read by everyone, and won’t convince those already distrustful of traditional journalism. Content moderation by tech companies is another response, but it only drives misinformation elsewhere, while prompting cries of censorship and bias.

Prebunking videos, by contrast, are relatively cheap and easy to produce and can be seen by millions when placed on popular platforms. They also avoid the political challenge altogether by focusing not on the topics of false claims, which are often cultural lightning rods, but on the techniques that make viral misinformation so infectious.

Those techniques include fear-mongering, scapegoating, false comparisons, exaggeration and missing context. Whether the subject is COVID-19, mass shootings, immigration, climate change or elections, misleading claims often rely on one or more of these tricks to exploit emotions and short-circuit critical thinking.

Last fall, Google launched the largest test of the theory so far with a prebunking video campaign in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The videos dissected different techniques seen in false claims about Ukrainian refugees. Many of those claims relied on alarming and unfounded stories about refugees committing crimes or taking jobs away from residents.

The videos were seen 38 million times on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter — a number that equates to a majority of the population in the three nations. Researchers found that compared to people who hadn’t seen the videos, those who did watch were more likely to be able to identify misinformation techniques, and less likely to spread false claims to others.

The pilot project was the largest test of prebunking so far and adds to a growing consensus in support of the theory.

“This is a good news story in what has essentially been a bad news business when it comes to misinformation,” said Alex Mahadevan, director of MediaWise, a media literacy initiative of the Poynter Institute that has incorporated prebunking into its own programs in countries including Brazil, Spain, France and the U.S.

Mahadevan called the strategy a “pretty efficient way to address misinformation at scale, because you can reach a lot of people while at the same time address a wide range of misinformation.”

Google’s new campaign in Germany will include a focus on photos and videos, and the ease with which they can be presented of evidence of something false. One example: Last week, following the earthquake in Turkey, some social media users shared video of the massive explosion in Beirut in 2020, claiming it was actually footage of a nuclear explosion triggered by the earthquake. It was not the first time the 2020 explosion had been the subject of misinformation.

Google will announce its new German campaign Monday ahead of next week’s Munich Security Conference. The timing of the announcement, coming before that annual gathering of international security officials, reflects heightened concerns about the impact of misinformation among both tech companies and government officials.

Tech companies like prebunking because it avoids touchy topics that are easily politicized, said Sander van der Linden, a University of Cambridge professor considered a leading expert on the theory. Van der Linden worked with Google on its campaign and is now advising Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, as well.

Meta has incorporated prebunking into many different media literacy and anti-misinformation campaigns in recent years, the company told The Associated Press in an emailed statement.

They include a 2021 program in the U.S. that offered media literacy training about COVID-19 to Black, Latino and Asian American communities. Participants who took the training were later tested and found to be far more resistant to misleading COVID-19 claims.

Prebunking comes with its own challenges. The effects of the videos eventually wears off, requiring the use of periodic “booster” videos. Also, the videos must be crafted well enough to hold the viewer’s attention, and tailored for different languages, cultures and demographics. And like a vaccine, it’s not 100% effective for everyone.

Google found that its campaign in Eastern Europe varied from country to country. While the effect of the videos was highest in Poland, in Slovakia they had “little to no discernible effect,” researchers found. One possible explanation: The videos were dubbed into the Slovak language, and not created specifically for the local audience.

But together with traditional journalism, content moderation and other methods of combating misinformation, prebunking could help communities reach a kind of herd immunity when it comes to misinformation, limiting its spread and impact.

“You can think of misinformation as a virus. It spreads. It lingers. It can make people act in certain ways,” Van der Linden told the AP. “Some people develop symptoms, some do not. So: if it spreads and acts like a virus, then maybe we can figure out how to inoculate people.”
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Woman Rescued in Turkey More Than a Week After Earthquake

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Rescuers in southern Turkey pulled a woman from the rubble of a building Monday, more than a week after a series of powerful earthquakes struck the region. 

The rescue of the 40-year-old in the town of Islahiye, in Gaziantep province, came as experts warned the window is closing for finding more people alive in what remains of collapsed buildings. 

Turkish authorities have reported at least 29,605 deaths from the massive earthquake centered in the Gaziantep region. 

Across the border in northern Syria, the United Nations humanitarian office said Monday the death toll there had topped 4,300, with another 7,600 injured. 

International search and rescue teams as well as medical and other aid have poured into Turkey since the earthquake hit in the early morning hours of February 6. 

Getting aid into earthquake-hit parts of Syria has been a bigger challenge, with outside deliveries restricted to a single crossing at the Turkey-Syria border. Shipments from government-controlled areas to rebel-held areas have been held up amid negotiations with the various parties to allow humanitarian access. 

“We have so far failed the people in north-west Syria,” U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths tweeted Sunday as he visited the region. “They rightly feel abandoned.” 

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged the U.N. Security Council to immediately vote on a resolution to authorize additional border crossings to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria. 

“Right now, every hour matters,” she said in a statement late Sunday. “We have heard the calls from UN leadership that the Security Council needs to authorize two additional crossings to help deliver lifesaving aid to people in the northwest of Syria. People in the affected areas are counting on us. They are appealing to our common humanity to help in their moment of need.” 

Investigation 

Turkey is targeting 134 contractors and others for alleged shoddy and illegal construction methods. 

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag has vowed to punish anyone responsible for the collapse of thousands of buildings. He said Sunday that to date three people had been arrested pending trial, seven people detained and seven others barred from leaving the country.    

Prosecutors have begun gathering samples of buildings for evidence of the materials that were used in their construction. The quakes were powerful, but victims and technical experts are blaming bad construction – and lax enforcement of building codes — for worsening the devastation.  

Two contractors reportedly attempting to leave the country for Georgia were detained by authorities Sunday at Istanbul Airport. The contractors were held responsible for the alleged shoddy construction of several collapsed buildings in Adiyaman, the private DHA news agency and other media reported.  

One of the arrested contractors, Yavuz Karakus, told reporters, “My conscience is clear. I built 44 buildings. Four of them were demolished. I did everything according to the rules,” DHA reported.  

Two more people were arrested in Gaziantep province suspected of having cut down columns to make extra room in a building that collapsed, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.  

The VOA Turkish Service contributed to this report, which includes some information from The Associated Press. 
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Chiefs Defeat Eagles in Super Bowl

Posted on by SeeUS

The Kansas City Chiefs kicked a field goal with eight seconds remaining to claim a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League’s Super Bowl. 

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for three touchdowns in the game to earn the Most Valuable Player award. 

Two of those touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as Kansas City rallied from a 24-14 halftime deficit by scoring on all of their second-half possessions. 

The Eagles managed to tie the game 35-35 with just over five minutes remaining as their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, ran in both a touchdown and a two-point conversion. 

But Kansas City was able to use nearly all of the game’s remaining time as it drove 66 yards down the field to set up for the winning field goal. Philadelphia was left with only enough time for one desperate pass attempt that fell short. 

For the Chiefs, the Super Bowl win was their second in four years, following a victory in 2020. 

Hurts finished the game with 304 passing yards and one passing touchdown in addition to his three rushing touchdowns. 
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Rihanna Performs Hits at Super Bowl — With a Very Special Guest

Posted on by SeeUS

Rihanna made her long-awaited return to the stage at the Super Bowl with a career-spanning medley of pop bangers, but it was her baby bump that dominated the conversation.   

The megastar appeared in the stadium midair on a floating stage, donning a clingy, all-red ensemble featuring a molded bustier — and a belt below what many viewers deduced was another mini RiRi in the making.   

Representatives for the singer confirmed the speculation to trade magazines Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter: Rihanna is pregnant with her second child.   

The 34-year-old welcomed her first child, a son, with rapper A$AP Rocky in May.   

Musically speaking, fans who hoped for some fresh tracks were disappointed: Rihanna’s night on the world’s biggest stage offered a nostalgia tour of hits from the past. 

She delivered her club smashes including “Where Have You Been” to “Only Girl (In the World)” and the time-tested “We Found Love.”   

“Rude Boy,” “Work” and “All of the Lights” were also on the setlist, as a sea of dancers performed stunning acrobatics.   

“Wild Thoughts,” “Run This Town” and, of course, “Umbrella” and “Diamonds” rounded out the show.   

She did not, as many stars do, bring out any guest artists, commanding the stage all on her own.   

The evening marked a reversal after Rihanna had previously turned down the gig in protest of the National Football League’s handling of race issues.   

But in accepting the coveted slot this time around, the Barbados-born singer said it was “important for representation.”   

“It’s important for my son to see this,” she said.   

Since releasing “Anti” in early 2016, Robyn Rihanna Fenty has taken a break from recording but has by no means taken it easy: she’s become a billionaire, parlaying her music achievements into successful makeup, lingerie and high-fashion brands.   

Since her last album Rihanna has performed occasional features and more recently recorded music for the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack. 
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Germany to Ease Visa Conditions for Some Earthquake Victims

Posted on by SeeEU

The German government wants to temporarily ease visa restrictions for survivors of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria who have close family ties to Germany if they are facing homelessness or were injured. 

“It’s about helping in times of need. We want to make it possible for Turkish or Syrian families in Germany to bring close relatives from the disaster region,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser tweeted late Saturday. 

“They can find shelter with us and receive medical treatment,” Faeser said. “With regular visas, which are issued quickly and are valid for three months.” 

However, not all the requirements of a regular visa procedure are being waived. Applicants must still be able to present a valid passport — likely to be an obstacle for people who fled collapsing buildings. 

Several million people in Germany have Turkish roots because, more than 60 years ago, West Germany recruited “guest workers” from Turkey and elsewhere to help the country advance economically. 

More recently, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees came to Germany looking for safety from the brutal civil war back home. 

Turkish and Syrian immigrants in Germany have been collecting aid, sending donations and worrying for their relatives back home. Calls to allow them to take in close family members from the devastated regions had been growing for days. 

The German government said it would ease the normally very strict and bureaucratic visa conditions quickly, adding that the foreign ministry had already both increased its staff in Turkey and redeployed capacity at visa acceptance centers there. 

Earthquake victims who wish to seek refuge in Germany and want to apply for a three-month visa need to prove that they have close family members in Germany who have German citizenship or a permanent right of residence, German news agency dpa reported. 

The German host family member must submit a declaration promising to pay for the living expenses and subsequent departure of the person taken in. 
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Richard E. Grant Brings Enthusiasm as BAFTA Film Awards Host

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There is no bigger cheerleader of awards season than Richard E. Grant. 

He brings joy to the red carpet, snapping selfies with stars and posting congratulations to nominees on social media. 

Now this enthusiasm has been tapped to host the EE BAFTA Film Awards on February 19 at the Royal Festival Hall. 

“I’m an unabashed fan of movies and of talent and always have been. I’ve never been disingenuous or, you know, blasé about that,” he says. “I probably have to restrain myself from permanently taking selfies with every nominee and winner coming up on the stage.” 

“From that point of view, I am the right fit for the job, hopefully,” he says. 

Grant also knows how it feels to participate in awards season and sit, nervously, waiting for that career changing envelope to be opened. He was nominated as supporting actor at both the BAFTAs and Oscars in 2019 for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” 

And he’s aware that, as a working actor, hosting has its challenges. 

“Traditionally if you’re a comedian, your role is very clear to roast the audience. Whereas I’m an actor and, you know, even though I’m the vast vintage that I am now, I still want to work and collaborate with directors and actors and writers for the remainder of my breathing days. So roasting them is not really an option and not something that I want to do.” 

When asked if there will be any humor in the ceremony — Grant has jokes. 

“No, it’s going to be very, very serious. There’ll be no jokes and it will be … it’ll be brutally earnest,” he says, laughing. 

Rebel Wilson got mixed reviews for her joke heavy turn as the BAFTA ceremony emcee last March, which at one point involved a cake of Benedict Cumberbatch’s face. 

This year, “All Quiet on the Western Front” leads the nominees with 14. “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” both have 10 nominations. 

As you’d expect, Grant knows quite a few of the nominees, having worked with EE Rising Star nominees Naomi Ackie and Daryl McCormack, plus Bill Nighy, Cate Blanchett and most of the “Banshees” cast. 

But there will be big changes at the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony this year. 

After six years of walking up the red carpeted steps into the Royal Albert Hall, nominees will be attending an event held beside the River Thames on London’s Southbank at the Royal Festival Hall. 

Also, for the first time, the last 30 minutes of the show will be broadcast live on BBC One, as BAFTA moves towards the idea of a fully live ceremony. 

“In an age where everything can be paused or fast forwarded or, you know, watched on at a later time, the thing of it being live gives it a kind of frisson and excitement and also the possibility that something can go fantastically well or really badly. And that’s always a good thing,” Grant says. 

British rapper Lil Simz will be performing at the ceremony and both the prince and princess of Wales will be in the audience, as he is president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 

Grant, currently working with script writers on what he’ll be saying on stage, claims he’s more excited than nervous, adding he’ll probably be “levitating” on the big day. 

“It is absolutely genuine,” he says of his boundless enthusiasm, “and it’s to the annoyance of some people.” 

“Just surviving in show-business because it is, you know — for what it looks like from the outside — it is a profession that is has an enormous amount of rejection in built into it. So when people are recognized or succeed at what they’re doing and do it so brilliantly — I’m a great champion of that,” Grant said. 
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Algeria Arrests Relatives of Wanted Dissident: Rights Group

Posted on by SeeAF

Algerian authorities have arrested the mother and sister of wanted activist Amira Bouraoui days after she left for France, a rights group and a radio reported on Sunday.   

Bouraoui, a French-Algerian doctor by training, had been arrested in Tunisia last week and risked being deported to Algeria, but she was finally able to board a flight to France on Monday evening.   

The 46-year-old was sentenced in Algeria in May 2021 to two years in jail for “offending Islam” and for insulting the president.   

Her departure, following French intervention, created a diplomatic incident between Algiers and Paris, with Algeria recalling its ambassador from France for consultations.   

On Saturday, officers in Algiers arrested her mother, Khadidja Bouaroui, 71, and her sister Wafa and searched their home, the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD) and Radio M reported.   

Early Sunday, Wafa was released but Bouraoui’s mother was kept in detention and transferred to Annaba near the border with Tunisia, the CNLD said.   

A cousin who lives in Annaba was also arrested, the reports said.   

Algeria, in an official statement released by the president’s office Wednesday, “firmly protested against the clandestine and illegal exfiltration” of Amira Bouraoui via Tunisia to France.   

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune also ordered ambassador Said Moussi to be recalled “with immediate effect.”    

Ties between France and Algeria had been frosty since autumn 2021 but warmed when French President Emmanuel Macron visited Algiers last August. 
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12 Al-Shabab Fighters Killed in Airstrike, US Military Says

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The United States military reported Sunday that 12 al-Shabab militants were killed in a new airstrike in central Somalia.   

The U.S. Africa Command known as AFRICOM said in a statement that the “collective self-defense” strike occurred February 10 “at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia.”   

The strike occurred in a remote area approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of the Indian Ocean port town of Hobyo, about 472 kilometers (293 miles) northeast of Mogadishu, according to the statement.    

AFRICOM did not specify the location, but Somali government media reported it took place in Donlaye, near Amara town in Galmudug state. The Somali government claimed 117 militants were killed in Friday’s operation.

Brigadier General Mohamed Tahlil Bihi, infantry commander of the Somali national army, told state media that the militants were in trenches fighting against Somali government forces. He also confirmed an airstrike targeted the militants during the firefight with Somali forces.   

AFRICOM said the strike took place in a remote location and assessed that no civilians were injured or killed.   

“U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as appropriate,” the statement read. “Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operations security.”   

It’s the third “collective self-defense” strike by the U.S. military in Somalia this year.   

The previous two strikes occurred January 20 near Galcad town, killing approximately 30 al-Shabab fighters, and January 23 near Harardhere town, killing two militants.   

In addition, the U.S. conducted a counterterrorism operation January 26 that killed Bilal al-Sudani, a key Islamic State Somalia branch commander in the Cal-Miskaad mountains in the Puntland semi-autonomous region.   

The Somali government has been engaged in military operations aimed at recovering territories from al-Shabab. The U.S. and Turkish governments have been providing air support to the Somali army.   

Both governments are also training elite Somali forces who have been at the forefront of the recent military operations. 
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Hundreds of Thousands March for Madrid’s Health Care

Posted on by SeeEU

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards flooded the streets of Madrid on Sunday for the largest protest yet against the regional government’s management of the capital city’s health care services. 

More than 250,000 people rallied in the city center, according to the central Spanish government. Organizers claimed the crowd was bigger by several hundred thousand. Many protest participants carried homemade signs with messages in Spanish like, “The right to health is a human right. Defend the health service.” 

Health worker associations led the demonstration, which was backed by left-wing parties, unions and normal citizens concerned with what they see as the dismantling of the public health care system by the Madrid region’s conservative-led government. 

These groups have taken to the streets on a regular basis in recent months, and their movement is gathering strength. 

Madrid’s regional chief, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, alleges the protests are motivated by the political interests of left-wing rivals ahead of May regional elections across most of Spain. 

Health care workers claim that Díaz Ayuso’s administration spends the least amount per capita on primary health care of any Spanish region even though it has the highest per capita income. They say that for every two euros spent on health care in Madrid, one ends up in the private sector. 

Critics of her administration say that produces long waits for patients and overworked doctors and nurses. 

Spain has a hybrid health care system, but the public sector is larger than the private one and is considered a basic pillar of the state. It is run by Spain’s regions. 

 
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Opposition Groups Rally in Paris Demanding EU List Iran’s Guards as Terrorist Group

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Thousands of opponents of Iran’s ruling authorities rallied for a second day in Paris on Sunday to pressure European Union states to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization in response to a crackdown in the country.

Tehran has been engaged in a violent crackdown on protesters since September, including carrying out executions, and it has detained dozens of European nationals. The EU has become increasingly critical of its actions.

Ties between EU members and Tehran have also deteriorated in recent months as efforts to revive talks on Iran’s nuclear program have stalled and the country has transferred drones to Russia to help it in its war against Ukraine.

Sunday’s rally in Paris, organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and which followed a similar rally on Saturday by European-based Iranians, aimed to highlight the IRGC’s role in cracking down on protesters, but also its activities outside Iran.

“This will be a revolution… The youth know there is no future under this regime. They say they are better off dying in the streets than living in this country with this regime,” said Ela Zabihi, a university lecturer in London.

Widespread anti-government demonstrations erupted in Iran in September after the death of young Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by morality police for allegedly flouting the strict dress code imposed on women.

While some EU member states and the European parliament have pushed for the IRGC to be listed, others have been more cautious fearing that it could lead to a complete break in ties with Iran, harming any chance of reviving nuclear talks and jeopardizing any hope of getting their nationals released.

Designating the IRGC as a terrorist group would mean that it would become a criminal offense to belong to the group, attend its meetings and carry its logo in public.

Set up after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system, the Guards have great sway in the country, controlling swathes of the economy and armed forces and put in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

“The IRGC must be added to the list of designated terrorist organizations by the European Union,” Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI told the rally of several thousand people.

“The valiant youth have the right to defend themselves against the IRGC, covert agents, and the barrage of bullets that pierce their eyes, heads, and hearts.”

The People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran is the main component of NCRI. The group, also known by its Persian name Mujahideen-e-Khalq, was once listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union but not since 2012.

Tehran has long called for a crackdown on the NCRI in Paris, Riyadh and Washington. The group, whose level of support is unclear, is regularly criticized in state media.
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Biden Hosts Republican, Democrats Governors at White House

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President Joe Biden, hosting both Republican and Democratic governors for a black-tie affair at the White House, raised his glass for a toast. 

Standing under a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, he told the people in the room to remember who they were. “We’re the United States of America. We can get big things done if we do it together.” 

“Cheers!” the crowd replied, as the clink-clink of glasses rippled about the State Dining Room. 

Biden hosted the dinner for members of the National Governors Association at the White House for the first time in his administration. It’s usually a tradition, but the dinner was held last year at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s Virginia estate, and virtually in 2021 because of COVID-19. 

The dinner came as federal leaders seemed as divided as ever with the new Republican majority in the House courting a risky debt ceiling showdown. 

On Saturday at the White House, though, the message was togetherness — and not just because the room was tightly packed with governors, spouses and Cabinet members. Biden and both associations’ leaders, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, spoke about the need to put aside the increasingly rancorous political differences in order to work together to better the nation. 

“I think when we work together it works,” Biden said, adding he’d work to be a little more bipartisan and praised the work of the governors. 

The tables were set with purple velvet tablecloths, china bearing the presidential seal and large floral centerpieces in white and pink. 

Cabinet members were mixed with governors in ball gowns, tuxedos and sparkles. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sat near Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, sat near Vice President Kamala Harris. Not far away were Republican Govs. Bill Lee of Tennessee and Doug Burgum of North Dakota. 

First lady Jill Biden held a service project event earlier Saturday for spouses, but she had to skip a Friday event because she wasn’t feeling well. She tested negative for COVID-19. 

Biden, who does not drink, gave the toast with his left hand, explaining he’d been told by his grandfather that that’s just what you did when you don’t have alcohol in the glass. Cox, who also doesn’t drink, did the same when he toasted, telling the room it was ginger ale. 

“It’s symbolic to have Republicans and Democrats breaking bread together,” Cox said. “This is what is missing.” 

“And I believe that the people of our country, at least the exhausted majority, wants us to be doing more of this.” 

Cox thanked Biden and the first lady before introducing Murphy, who joked that he was definitely holding his glass in his right hand. He said their party affiliations were less important than the shared moniker of “Americans.” 

After dinner, the guests filed into the East Room, where country singer Brad Paisley performed the song “American Saturday Night” and other tunes. 
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US Senator Schumer: Downed ‘Objects’ Likely Smaller Balloons

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U.S. fighter jets shot downed two more objects flying over the United States and Canadian territories over the weekend. Although a comprehensive analysis of the debris will be needed, a top Democratic senator said they are now believed to be balloons similar to a Chinese one downed a week ago. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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Ugandan Activists Decry Closure of UN Human Rights Office in Uganda

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Activists in Uganda are crying foul in light of the government’s decision to close the United Nations human rights office in the country. Halima Athumani reports from Kampala, Uganda.
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US Security Experts: Latest Two Objects Shot Down Were Balloons

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U.S. national security officials say they believe the latest two high-altitude objects shot down over the northern reaches of the United States and Canada were balloons, but much smaller than a Chinese spy balloon shot down over the Atlantic Ocean more than a week ago, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

Schumer told ABC’s “This Week” show that he had been briefed Saturday night by President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, about the initial findings about the objects, one shot down over frozen waters near the state of Alaska on Friday and a second one Saturday over Canada’s Yukon region.

Schumer did not say where the balloons originated. But he said both were shot down by U.S. fighter jets, the second on authorization from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after both were spotted on radar at about 12,000 meters (40,000 feet) above the Earth and were considered a threat to commercial aircraft that fly at a similar altitude.

“You can be sure that if any American interests where people are at risk, they’ll take appropriate action,” he said.

With the three balloon shootdowns in an eight-day period, U.S. authorities are trying to learn how they, until now, missed at least three balloon sightings during the White House tenure of former President Donald Trump and another earlier in Biden’s presidency, all believed to be part of a Chinese spy program conducted by Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army.

“I think our military, our intelligence are doing a great job, present and future,” Schumer said. “I feel a lot of confidence in what they’re doing. But why — why as far back as the Trump administration did no one know about this?”

“It is wild that we didn’t know,” Schumer said. “Now they are learning a lot more. And the military and the intelligence are focused like a laser on, first, gathering and accumulating the information, then coming up with a comprehensive analysis of what went on before, what’s going on now, and what could go on in the future.”

China has acknowledged launching the first balloon, the one shot down February 4 off the coast of the southern state of South Carolina, but claimed it was a weather balloon that drifted off course, a contention that the U.S. has rejected. The U.S. concluded the balloon was a surveillance aircraft that could be maneuvered over key military installations as it drifted across the U.S. mainland.

Schumer said, “We got enormous intelligence information from surveilling the balloon as it went over the United States,” although both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have questioned why the U.S. did not shoot it down sooner than it did before the Chinese flew it over military bases. Biden ordered the U.S. military to shoot it down as soon as it was safe to do so without endangering Americans on the ground, which the military decided was only after it moved offshore.  

The U.S. said this past week it had taken steps to jam information being sent from the balloon.

Now, Schumer said that with Navy divers collecting parts of the balloon’s payload from the seabed for forensic analysis by FBI experts at a laboratory outside Washington, “We’re going to probably be able to piece together this whole … surveillance balloon and know exactly what’s going on. So that’s a huge coup for the United States.”

“I think the Chinese were humiliated,” Schumer said. “I think the Chinese were caught lying. And I think it’s a real — it’s a real step back for them.”

He predicted that Beijing is “probably going to have to get rid of [the balloon surveillance program] or do something, because they look really bad. And they’re not just doing [it over] the United States. This is a crew of balloons; we saw one in South America. They’ve probably been all over the world.”

Despite the U.S. conclusion about China’s balloon spying, Schumer said, “We can’t just have a Cold War with them. We have to have a relationship with them. But China has taken advantage of us over and over and over again.”
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Turkey Targeting Contractors as Responsible for Collapsed Buildings  

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Turkey is targeting 134 contractors and others for alleged shoddy and illegal construction methods even as rescuers retrieve more bodies from collapsed buildings after a pair of earthquakes last week killed more than 33,000 people and injured another 92,000.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag has vowed to punish anyone responsible for the collapse of thousands of buildings as the quakes last Monday devastated large portions of southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. He said Sunday that to date three people had been arrested pending trial, seven people detained and seven others barred from leaving the country.

Even as authorities assessed responsibility for the collapsed buildings, thousands of rescue workers, against long odds, continued their search for survivors, and a handful of people were found alive. Thermal cameras were used to probe the piles of concrete and metal, while rescuers demanded silence so that they could hear any voices of the trapped.

A pregnant woman was rescued Sunday 157 hours after the quakes in the hard-hit province of Hatay, state-broadcaster TRT said.

HaberTurk television broadcast the live rescue of a 6-year-old boy removed from the debris of his home in Adiyaman. The child was wrapped in a space blanket and put into an ambulance. An exhausted rescuer removed his surgical mask and took deep breaths as a group of women could be heard crying in joy.

Prosecutors have begun gathering samples of buildings for evidence of the materials that were used in their construction. The quakes were powerful, but victims and technical experts are blaming bad construction — and lax enforcement of building codes — for worsening the devastation.

Two contractors reportedly attempting to leave the country for Georgia were detained by authorities Sunday at Istanbul Airport. The contractors were held responsible for the alleged shoddy construction of several collapsed buildings in Adiyaman, the private DHA news agency and other media reported.

One of the arrested contractors, Yavuz Karakus, told reporters, “My conscience is clear. I built 44 buildings. Four of them were demolished. I did everything according to the rules,” DHA reported.

Two more people were arrested in Gaziantep province suspected of having cut down columns to make extra room in a building that collapsed, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

A day earlier, Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced the planned establishment of “Earthquake Crimes Investigation” bureaus. The bureaus would gather evidence, identify contractors and others behind the construction of the collapsed buildings to determine if violations occurred. Turkey has building codes, but they are rarely enforced.

Eyup Muhcu, president of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, told The Associated Press that many of the buildings that fell were built with inferior materials and methods, without regard for Turkey’s construction codes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Saturday that the earthquake was the “disaster of the century.

David Alexander, a professor of emergency planning at University College London told the AP, “This is a disaster caused by shoddy construction, not by an earthquake.”

Suzan van der Lee, a seismologist and professor at Northwestern University, told VOA Turkish’s Ozlem Tinaz, “Earthquakes like this are going to happen… we just don’t know when. So, the best thing to do is to be as prepared as possible, buildings that are as safe as possible and know exactly what to do when you feel the ground shake.”

The VOA Turkish Service contributed to this report, which includes some information from The Associated Press.
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New Moldovan Prime Minister Expected to Be Approved 

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Moldova’s former interior minister, Dorin Recean, is expected to be approved as the country’s new prime minister by parliament as soon as this week, following the February 10 resignation of Natalia Gavrilita.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu nominated Recean to the post after Gavrilita stepped down after a year-and-a-half in office. Recean is Sandu’s defense and security adviser.

Recean, 48, who served as interior minister from 2012 to 2015, will have 15 days to form a new government to present to parliament for a confidence vote. Moldova’s ruling party, the Party of Action and Solidarity, has a 63 percent majority of parliamentary seats.

The deputy speaker of the parliament, Mihai Popșoi, told VOA that Moldova’s leadership would like to have a transition that is as smooth as possible, given the security situation in the region.

Artur Maja, the secretary general of the PAS, said the change in the government had been planned for a long time.

“It is a planned and controlled transition from a pro-European government to another,” Maja told VOA. “The main objectives of the new government are strengthening the security sector, reviving the economy, and building resilience in the face of the brutal war of Russia against Ukraine.”

The new team, he said, led by the Recean “will continue to focus on the EU accession, necessary reforms on the national level, and our country’s increased contribution to the regional security.”

Iulian Groza, executive director of the Moldova-based Institute for European Policies and Reforms, said, “Last year, there were several discussions not only with the public but across the political spectrum about the need to re-energizing the government.”

“Gavrilita’s government has done a tremendous job in terms of managing the crisis that Moldova was hit with, the economic and energy crisis, and of course, the impact of the Russian war against Ukraine. The government managed to start some systemic reforms,” Groza told VOA; however, he emphasized the changes were needed, and the Moldovan leadership was looking for the right time to go ahead with the replacement.

President Sandu thanked former Prime Minister Gavrilita on Friday for her “enormous sacrifice and efforts to lead the country in a time of so many crises.”

She added, “I know we need unity and a lot of work to get through the difficult period we are facing. The difficulties of 2022 postponed some of our plans, but they did not stop us.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of last year had a tremendous impact on Moldova. Gavrilita said that no one expected her government “would have to manage so many crises caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

“I took over the government with an anti-corruption, pro-development and pro-European mandate,” Gavrilita said. “We were immediately faced with energy blackmail, and those who did this hoped we would give in.”

A member of the Moldovan parliament, Sinchevici Eugeniu, told VOA that the change in the Moldovan government Friday reflects the need for fresh defense measures in the country.

“We need to put a big focus on security in our government, which was one of the factors that motivated us to change the government,” Eugeniu said, pointing to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent comments on state-owned Russian news network TASS that the actions of Western nations could soon turn Moldova into the “next Ukraine.”

The country is focused on maintaining order internally, especially at a time when Russia is trying to destabilize Moldova,” Eugeniu said.

He added that Russia “can destabilize situation from inside. They have a lot of Russian agents undercover as representatives of different, especially pro-Russian political structures in Moldova, and they are now putting a lot of money for the destabilization from inside.”

Recean told his colleagues that as prime minister, his main focus would be to introduce “order and discipline” in Moldova’s institutions, breathe new life into the economy, and ensure peace and stability.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the Moldovan pro-Western leadership has been working to establish closer ties with its Western partners. Last June, Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.6 million people, was granted European Union candidate status on the same day as Ukraine.

Ukraine’s ability to defend itself is particularly important for Moldova. “As long as Ukraine stands strong, we stand with them, and we want to encourage other countries to help Ukraine as much as possible,” said Eugeniu.
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