Rashida Tlaib calls for Build Back Better passage, end to filibuster in SOTU response

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said Tuesday that passing Build Back Better and ending the filibuster could advance a progressive agenda in a response to the State of the Union address. File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI | License Photo

March 1 (UPI) -- Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called for Congress to pass President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Plan and eliminate the filibuster in a progressive response to the State of the Union on Thursday night.

Tlaib was representing the Working Families Party, which she described as "a voice for the multiracial working class" as she called for a unified progressive Congress.

"Imagine a government where corporate donors don't drive healthcare, climate, education and poverty policies. Where the working families call the shots," she said. "It's time we had a majority in Congress to fight for us -- A Working Families majority."

A Working Families majority, she continued, would work with Biden to guarantee healthcare as a basic right, make life-saving medicine affordable, make abortion care a fundamental right, address rising housing costs and "transform our broken immigration system."

She said that Build Back Better is a key part of the agenda as it would lower prescription drug costs, provide affordable childcare and free education, build affordable housing, invest in renewable energy and create green jobs.

"No one fought harder for Biden's agenda than progressives," said Tlaib. "But two forces stood in the way: A Republican Party that serves the rich and powerful. And just enough corporate-backed Democratic obstructionists to help them succeed."

Tlaib railed against the influence donors have over some elected officials, saying that "disproportionate representation in the Senate distorts the democratic will of the people" while taking aim at the filibuster.

"The filibuster continues to be used to block action to end inequality and injustice in our country. We must abolish it in the Senate, like the House did decades ago," she said.

She also called on Biden to take further actions to enact a progressive agenda such as canceling student loan debt, banning fossil fuel drilling and mining on federal lands and making more Americans eligible for federal benefits.

Tlaib called on Americans to vote to elect a Working Families majority and prevent Republicans from gaining control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

"We must connect on the dreams we have for our children and the hopes we have for our communities," she said. "When we connect with one another we can outwork the hate and show the people who want to ensure we never have a seat at the table that we aren't going anywhere."

Trucker rally fizzles out in Washington, D.C.
By Simon Druker

Activist Kyle Sefcik speaks onstage during the Stage of Freedom rally at the Washington Monument held to support the trucker convoy heading to Washington D.C. on Tuesday. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo

March 1 (UPI) -- A rally in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, modeled after the "Freedom Convoy" that occupied Ottawa for more than a week, failed to draw substantial crowds.

The rally drew fewer than a hundred people to the Washington Monument Tuesday, to protest COVID-19 restrictions, the Washingtonian reported.

Truckers also caused havoc at a Canadian border crossing between Michigan and Ontario, disrupting cross-border travel, including commercial goods.

A protestor holds a sign urging vaccination against the COVID-19 virus at the Stage of Freedom rally at the Washington Monument held to support the trucker convoy heading to Washington D.C. on Tuesday. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo

This comes after a contingent of truckers -- also slated to arrive Tuesday -- fizzled over a lack of participation and was eventually canceled, The New York Times reported. It counted five trucks among its ranks when it arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday. The Freedom Convoy USA 2022 originally left California Feb. 23 for the 11-day trip.

Mixed Martial Arts fighter Kyle Sefcik organized the rally, which was to take place just hours before President Joe Biden's State of the Union address. Sefcik opened the rally by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on the "Stage of Freedom," according to the Daily Beast.

Police and media members outnumbered those in attendance.

Several trucker convoys were still on their way to the city to protest COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccine and mask mandates.

The rally drew far fewer participants than had been anticipated, as few a 12 at one point in time, with police and media members outnumbering attendees. 

Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo

Florida IT student sets up Twitter account tracking travel of Russian oligarchs


Jack Sweeney, a Florida college student, has started tracking the aircraft of several Russian oligarchs, including the Airbus A-319 owned by Alexander Abromov, similar to the one pictured. Photo courtesy of Airbus

March 1 (UPI) -- Jack Sweeney, an information technology student at the University of Central Florida has set up a new Twitter account tracking the travel of Russian oligarchs amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Twitter account, Russian Oligarch Jets, had over 182,000 followers by 4 pm. on Tuesday.

"People have been asking me about Putin for awhile," Sweeney, 19, told NBC News. "They wanted to know if they could track him."

Though Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't traveled frequently, other elite businessmen in the country have, and according to Bloomberg, Sweeney received requests to track them after the United States and its allies announced sanctions on Moscow and some of its elite.

"The aircraft these oligarchs have are absolutely crazy," Sweeney told Bloomberg, adding that they traveled on commercial-sized aircraft such as the Airbus A319 and Boeing 737. "Their planes are huge compared to other jets."

The feed, launched over the weekend, is currently tracking jets of Russian billionaire tycoons, such as Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich and steel billionaire Alexander Abramov.

Abramovich's jet has been tracked in places, such as Moscow, Russia, Antigua and Barbuda, the account's posts show, and Abramov's jet-setting has been tracked in places, such as Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates, and in Los Angeles.

"These are the glitterati of Russia," Russian expert Howard Stoffer, a University of New Haven teacher of international affairs, told NBC News. "They should be exposed, and they should be paying whatever price a country can extract from them."

"Get these [airplane] tail numbers out. Tell the government these are the people, this is where they're located and let them take whatever action they feel is appropriate."

Sweeney previously gained attention when he tracked Tesla CEO Elon Musk's private jet.

The teenager told Protocol.com last month Musk had offered him $5,000 to shut down an account tracking his private jet.

Ongoing labor dispute shuts down London Underground after negotiations fail

By Rich Klein

The union blames London Underground managers for refusing to "rule out job cuts and detrimental changes to pensions." Officials say they have not proposed cuts to workers' pensions. 

File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

March 1 (UPI) -- About 10,000 employees of London's underground subway system went on strike and shut the rails down on Tuesday after negotiations with the government over pay, pensions and working conditions failed to reach a resolution.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union said last week that the workers would walk off the job for 24 hours on both Tuesday and Thursday over the labor dispute with Transport for London.

The planned walkout went ahead after government and union negotiators failed to reach a resolution on Monday in a meeting that lasted for 20 minutes.

The union, which represents more than 83,000 workers across the transportation industry, said there will also be overnight strikes for the Central and Victoria lines on Fridays and Saturdays through mid-June. Transport for London said commuters should expect "severe disruptions" across the system.



British transport secretary Grant Shapps called the strike "a kick in the teeth for Londoners" and urged London Mayor Sidiq Khan and the union to resolve the dispute. Shapps said the strike is "counterproductive."

The union blamed London Underground managers for refusing to "rule out job cuts and detrimental changes to pensions." It said that 600 "front-line jobs" are in jeopardy and transportation officials want to make significant changes to pensions to drive down costs.

RELATED London Mayor Sadiq Khan announces increase in bus, tube fares

Transport for London has disputed the union's concerns and said cuts to workers' pensions have not been proposed.

The London Underground, known colloquially as the tube, consists of close to 300 stations in and around London.

Volcanoes and climate change – how do they connect?

Volcanic Eruption on Spain's Canary Island of La Palma - 

 Copyright Getty Images

CLIMATE NOW Updated: 28/02/2022 - 

Monitoring the interaction of volcanic eruptions with the atmosphere is increasingly important in a changing climate

It was around Christmas last year that the Cumbre Vieja volcano stopped spitting lava on the Spanish island of La Palma, bringing some relief to the locals after more than 85 days of eruption and €1 billion in damages. But in 2021 Cumbre Vieja was not the only volcano making headlines with its massive outburst. Across the world, from Kamceatka to Reunion and Guatemala, and from Iceland to Sicily, several volcanoes fired up into sizable eruptions, adding to the list of extreme events affecting lives and economies.

Increasingly, when extreme events occur, be they wildfires, typhoons, or floods, they stir discussions about the role of climate change in making natural hazards more frequent and/or intense. But is that the case for volcanic eruptions too? Can we tie volcano behaviour to climate change? And if so, why does it matter?
The climate connection

Volcanoes do interact with the climate through what they inject into the atmosphere during eruptions. Eruptions produce big amounts of gas, particles (known as aerosols), ash and metals, temporarily altering the climate at a local, regional, or even global scale.

“Large volcanic eruptions in the past have changed global climate directly and by reinforcing other processes,” says Dr. Santiago Arrellano, researcher at the Department of Space, Earth and Environment at the Chalmers Institute of Technology. An eruption’s effect on the climate depends on the location, altitude, amount, and composition of the material spewed, explains Dr. Arrellano. For example, tropical eruptions will have a bigger impact than those in upper latitudes, as air from the tropics travels more widely, and can carry volcanic emissions across the globe. Also, stronger eruptions have more enduring effects as they send particles into the stratosphere, where they remain for longer. In the Philippines, for example, Mount Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 sent huge amounts of particles and gas more than 20 km high into the atmosphere, which then circled the planet for about three weeks.

© Getty Images Lava ocean entry, Kilauea, Hawaii

Although it could seem that explosions of steaming hot lava and gas would warm up the atmosphere, science points to the contrary. While eruptions do spit out global warming CO2 – although all of the Earth’s volcanoes erupting together would produce 100 times less carbon than human activities – they have a predominantly cooling influence on the climate. “The effect of large volcanic eruptions on our climate […] is due to the emission of particles, mostly fine ash and sulphates, which are very effective in scattering solar radiation,” says Dr. Arrellano. “These sulphate aerosol particles are very tiny and shiny and reflect some of the incoming sunlight back to space, which results in a temporary cooling effect at Earth’s surface,” says Dr. Anya Schmidt, Professor for Climate Modelling at LMU in Munich. “Averaged across the globe, the surface cooling effect is up to about 0.5°C for bigger eruptions such as the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and lasts for a few years,” says Dr. Schmidt.

The effects of more recent events remain to be seen. “We still need to see if the 2022 eruption in Tonga [...] will have a noticeable effect on the climate,” says Dr. Arrellano.
Eruptions and climate change

Recently, researchers are exploring how climate change could influence eruptions, by looking at how things might change at ground level, as well as up in the air.

Some studies point out that shifting patterns in the atmosphere’s circulation could alter the cooling effect of volcanic plumes. Research from Cambridge University and the Met Office shows that the impacts of a warmer climate on big versus smaller eruptions will differ. “For large eruptions such as Pinatubo’s, which generally occur once or twice per century, climate change will cause volcanic plumes to rise higher and aerosols to spread faster over the globe, amplifying the cooling by about 15 per cent compared to the present-day climate,” says Dr. Schmidt.

“But for smaller-sized eruptions such as the 2011 Nabro eruption in Eritrea, which typically happen yearly, the surface cooling effect will be reduced by about 75 per cent under a high-end warming scenario” (n.b.under multiple degrees of warming). As the tropopause, the layer between the lower atmosphere and the stratosphere, is predicted to increase, this means that volcanic plumes will take more time to reach the latter, Schmidt explains. As a consequence, the aerosols from eruptions will remain low in the air and will have limited impact, as they will be quickly washed out by precipitation.

Scientists are also looking at how climate change could influence how frequently volcanic eruptions occur. “There is an interesting connection here,” says Dr. Arrellano, “because global warming causes the melting of glaciers, many of which cover the flanks of active volcanoes.” According to Dr. Arrellano, a massive melting will reduce the pressure on the Earth’s surface, altering processes in its crust, causing for example hot magma to get in contact with aquifers. “This may in turn trigger volcanic activity, as the whole system is interconnected,” says Dr. Arrellano. However, more research is needed, as between 1850 and now, there is no evidence that eruptions have become more frequent with glacier melting, according to Dr. Schmidt.

Volcanoes at high elevation could also be affected by climate change if they have ice caps that are melting, says Dr. Tamsin Mather, professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford. “If the ice caps maintain volcanic structures, their disappearance could lead to instability, and events such as volcanic landslides.”
Monitoring volcanic emissions

While the impacts of climate change on volcanoes remain difficult to gauge, monitoring emissions from eruptions is critical for air quality, public health, and industries such as aviation. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) regularly tracks the transport and behaviour of sulphur dioxide from eruptions. In the case of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, CAMS monitored SO2 plumes travelling across North Africa, Europe and the Atlantic, all the way to the Caribbean region, where sulphate aerosols contributed to poor air quality conditions. CAMS has also monitored emissions resulting from recent eruptions of Mount Etna in Sicily, La Souffriere in St. Vincent, Nyiragongo in Congo, and Raikoke in the Kuril Islands.

© Copernicuseuronews

“There are multiple ways to monitor emission of lava, gases, ash, or aerosols emitted from volcanoes, but the accuracy depends on the property and the type of emission,” says Dr. Arrellano, who has been working with CAMS on providing information on volcanic emissions estimates. Remote sensing on the ground, in the air and in space can quantify gaseous SO2, satellites can map volcanic ash, while ground mapping and thermal radiation are used to track lava. “Most of these techniques used for monitoring volcanic emissions were not designed for this purpose,” says Dr. Arrellano. “They are by-products of missions with other objectives, such as global monitoring of the ozone layer.” The data is used widely. “Volcanologists want to track the rate and magnitude of emission of gases, lava or ashes to determine the physical state of the volcano and predict its activity. The meteorologist may be interested in tracking volcanic plumes to understand circulation patterns and the interaction of volcanoes with the atmosphere,” says Dr. Arrellano. “The climate scientist wants to know where, how high and how much of certain species is emitted to quantify the climate forcing. Air transport authorities are interested in observing the location of volcanic ash plumes to alert pilots and avoid accidents.”

Although CAMS does not monitor eruptions themselves, it offers information on the load of SO2 in the atmosphere through near real-time satellite observations and combines that data with its global forecasts to predict the composition and quality of the air over a five-day period.

Understanding how volcanoes and climate influence each other remains challenging, according to Dr. Schmidt. “While some of the feedback loops are becoming more obvious now, the climate system is complex and getting a grasp of all potential feedback loops is critical in our quest to make accurate climate projections that consider volcanic eruptions.”
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People of Georgia take to the streets in solidarity with Ukraine

People of Georgia take to the streets in Tbilisi in support of Ukraine. 

 - Copyright Melanie Hamilton

By Melanie Hamilton • Updated: 01/03/2022 - 18:17

On Sunday evening, for the fourth day in a row, Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue flooded with demonstrations of solidarity for Ukraine that poured out from the Parliament steps.

Across the sea of some 30,000 people, blankets of sky blue and wheat yellow danced alongside white sheets branded with ruby crosses, a symbol of two countries united.

Between the thundering of Ukraine’s national anthem - whose lyrics proclaim “Ukraine is not yet dead” and that her “enemies will vanish like dew in the morning sun”– I watch the crowd belt out in unison Slava Ukraini! and Putin khuylo! These are two patriotic sayings synonymous with Ukrainian freedom, the former of which means Glory to Ukraine, and the latter, a vulgar and apt sobriquet for Vladimir Putin.

Tbilisi is one of many cities across the globe standing up for Ukraine as Russia launches air raids on the capital of Kyiv. People have come out in record numbers in cities like Berlin, which had 100,000 people take to its streets yesterday and Prague’s nearly 70,000 strong gathering at Wenceslas Square.

For Georgia though, the knife of Russian aggression digs deep.

Protests in Tbilisi

Melanie Hamilton

What’s Georgia’s historical relation with Russia?

“My family remembers watching the Tskhinvali skyline from their balcony and seeing what could’ve been confused for a night of fireworks and celebrations. But they were bombs,” says Nina Vaxanski, a Georgian photojournalist raised in Gori, the epicenter of the 2008 Russo-Georgian war.

According to an EU fact finding report, the war left 170 servicemen, 14 policemen and 228 civilians dead on the Georgian side. Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia’s north central region of Samachablo has been under Russian occupation since.

“Over the years, Russia has tried again and again to take Georgia. I worry now that if they continue this way in Ukraine, if we don’t stand up against this horrible power, they will come back to Georgia and try to ruin all that we’ve worked for.”

Over the years, Russia has tried again and again to take Georgia.

She continues by saying, “If Ukraine is strong, we can be too, this needs to be a wake up call for the world. We are in this war together with Ukraine and we stand strong with them. Just because the bombs don’t drop on us now, doesn’t mean that they won’t.”

Children, teenagers and adults all wave Ukrainian flags in the streets.

Melanie Hamilton

This shared struggle is one of the many reasons Georgians and Ukrainians have a strong camaraderie with one another and why, to many, this attack on Ukraine feels like an attack on Georgia.

Over the past few days, 300 odd Georgians have left for Ukraine where they will fight side by side with Ukrainians against a common enemy.

This needs to be a wake up call for the world. We are in this war together with Ukraine and we stand strong with them.

Georgian people hold signs supporting Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

Melanie Hamilton

A heroic act that brings on mixed feelings of perseverance and angst further punctuated by the lack of sanctions and any real condemnation of the Kremlin by Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili.

Children are screaming for Ukrainian freedom

I’ve watched in awe, slack-jawed really, as people, a surprising number of whom looked to be 20 or younger, took to the same street used to protest anti-Russian aggression so many times before.

Children no more than 5, sat on dad’s shoulders, screaming for Ukrainian freedom, and groups of teens proudly waving the Georgian and Ukrainian flags, laughing with their friends, cigarettes dangling from their lips.

Off in the distance a man can be seen holding a small book before lighting it on fire and belting an emotional speech to those gathered around him. The scarlet coloured book, embroidered with a two-headed gold eagle, isn’t really a book at all, it’s his Russian passport.

A child sits on her father's shoulders behind a Putin sign in Tbilisi.

Melanie Hamilton

Further into the crowd, a girl shoots up on someone’s shoulders and screams out “Slava Ukraini!” Before popping the top on a yellow smoke bomb. Deeper into the crowd, on the jam-packed steps of Parliament are two girls, Hanga Modzmanashvili and Oliko Chelidze, who at just 12 years old find their time best spent fighting for democracy.

To these inseparable friends it’s simple, “standing up for Ukraine is the right thing to do.”

The Russian Empire, then the Soviet Union, and now the Russian Federation, seem to love toying with power. And as the rest of the world waits with bated breath for what’s next, so too does Georgia, chanting in unison that Ukraine is not yet dead and that one day, their enemy will vanish like dew in the morning sun.

Ukrainian and Russian opera stars in emotional embrace after performance

As the Russia-Ukraine war escalates, two opera singers 

from opposing countries hug in a symbolic embrace - Copyright AP Photo

By Theo Farrant & AP • Updated: 01/03/2022 - 14:18

Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska and Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova hugged at the end of their performance of "Aida" at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, Sunday evening.

Monastyrska, 46, was born in Irkliiv, in central Ukraine, while Gubanova is from Moscow.

As they hugged, in a symbolic gesture of peace and friendship, the stars were applauded by the audience, and shouts of "peace, peace, peace."

Many institutions across the cultural landscape have expressed opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The sails of the Sydney Opera House were lit up in blue and yellow to show solidarity with Ukraine.

A prominent contemporary art museum called Garage in Moscow announced Saturday it was halting its work on exhibitions and postponing them "until the human and political tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine has ceased."

The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, recently decided to suspend Russian director Valery Gergiev from leading the La Scala opera house orchestra, as he failed to condemn Russia's invasion.

Ukraine war: Russia's battle with Big Tech to control the invasion narrative is ramping up

File - A user holds a smartphone with an opened Facebook page in Moscow, Russia, June 10, 2021. - 

 Copyright Pavel Golovkin/Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By Euronews with Reuters • Updated: 28/02/2022 -

Russia is ramping up efforts to control the narrative over its invasion of Ukraine online and over the airwaves. Tech giants, however, are fighting back.

Facebook's owner Meta and Alphabet Inc's Google have both put restrictions on Russia's state-controlled media outlets in Ukraine and around the world.

On Friday, Russia said it would partially restrict Facebook, a move Meta said came after it refused a government request to stop the independent fact-checking of several Russian state media outlets.

By Saturday, Twitter also said its service was being restricted for some Russian users.

Ukraine war: Meta restricts Russia from running Facebook ads amid row over media censorship

The Disinformation War: The falsehoods about the Ukraine invasion and how to stop them spreading

Images and videos were slower to load on Facebook after the move was announced, according to users, while Facebook Messenger had long periods of not loading at all.

On mobile devices, Twitter remained slow - it has been the subject of a punitive slowdown since March. Many state websites, including the Kremlin site kremlin.ru, have also suffered outages in recent days.

The stand-off is the latest step in an ongoing confrontation with Moscow where tech platforms risk government-imposed restrictions, as Russia seeks to censor dissidents while bolstering state-run media.

Facebook to TikTok: Media platforms under pressure

Major social, video, and live-streaming platforms from Facebook to TikTok and Twitch are coming under growing pressure to combat online falsehoods relating to the conflict, including the spread of misleading footage.

On Monday, Russia ordered Google to immediately restrict access to information posted as part of Google Ads that it said contained inaccurate information about casualties sustained by Russian forces and Ukrainian civilians.

State communications regulator Roskomnadzor said it had sent a letter to Google demanding that the offending materials be removed and said it would block internet resources that publish such information.

Ukraine’s tech sector is a 'pillar of resistance'. Here’s how it's responding to Russia’s invasion

Russia’s pavillion has been banned at MWC 2022. Here is what to expect from the 'unifying event'

The escalation of Russia's clash with big tech comes days before a deadline Moscow set for major foreign tech companies to comply with a new law that requires them to set up official representation in the country, which could make it easier for the Kremlin to regulate platforms.

It follows a series of fines and slowdowns imposed on platforms that the Russian government said failed to remove illegal content.

Ahead of the March deadline, an online list by Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor showed only Apple, Spotify and Viber had fulfilled all three requirements of the law as of 9.45 pm GMT on Sunday. These are: registering an account with the regulator, giving users a way to communicate directly with the company, and setting up a representative office.

Advertising bans, slowdowns and shutdowns

This month, Russia threatened the companies with an advertising ban if they do not comply. Harsher restrictions that could follow include speed slowdowns or outright blocks, Russian officials have said.

Tech giants are being placed in a difficult position as the conflict in Ukraine fuels an information war.

Companies indeed face the burden of weighing demands from Ukrainian officials and sympathisers worldwide, who have called on them to expel Russian users from their services to stop the spread of false information, while also preserving the access of dissidents to vital digital tools.

"Mark Zuckerberg, while you create Metaverse - Russia ruins real life in Ukraine! We ask you to ban access to @facebookapp and @instagram from Russia - as long as tanks and missiles attack our kindergartens and hospitals!" Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Responding to the demands, Meta's Head of Global Affairs Nick Clegg tweeted on Sunday that turning off Facebook and Instagram in Russia would "silence important expression at a crucial time".

It was clear others across the tech landscape were grappling with similar dilemmas.

Just minutes after saying in a post on Sunday that the Telegram messaging app would consider restricting some channels for spreading false information, founder Pavel Durov said the company would no longer do so after receiving feedback from users.
Russia's state-run media under scrutiny

The activities of state-controlled media such as RT and Sputnik - which were hit with new EU sanctions on Sunday - has been a key source of conflict between Moscow and major tech platforms, as activists and politicians demanded the companies demonetise or ban the Kremlin-sponsored outlets.

Roskomnadzor has warned local media not to circulate what it called "false information" about Moscow's military operation, banning the use of the words "invasion" and "assault" to describe its attack on Ukraine.

Russian tech giant Yandex has also started warning Russian users looking for news about Ukraine on its search engine about unreliable information on the internet.

Russia calls its actions a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy Ukraine's military capabilities and capture individuals who it sees as dangerous nationalists - something the government in Kyiv and Western powers say is baseless propaganda.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny slams 'cowardly' Google and Apple for removing election app

Russia hits tech giants Google and Meta with massive fines

Amid Russia's invasion, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and its video streaming service YouTube have all taken new measures to restrict Russian state media from making money from ads on their sites.

Twitter, which banned ads from state-backed media in 2019, said it was pausing all ads in Russia and Ukraine to ensure the visibility of public safety information. Google, the world's biggest ad seller, also said it was not allowing Russian state media to sell ads using its tools.

Facebook and Google also said they had restricted access to some state media accounts in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian government. Google said on Sunday it had banned downloads of RT's mobile app in Ukraine in response to a government legal request.

Ukraine war: What part is hackers’ collective Anonymous playing in the war effort against Russia?

Anonymous has claimed cyber attacks on Russian media and state websites in retaliation for the country's invasion of Ukraine - Copyright Pixabay

By Natalie Huet with AFP and Reuters • Updated: 28/02/2022 - 

They’re mysterious, they’re disruptive, and they’ve picked their side in the war pitting Russia against Ukraine.

The hacker collective Anonymous has claimed credit for several cyberattacks that took down Russian government websites and state-backed news outlets in recent days.

On Monday, several prominent Russian media services appeared to have been hit simultaneously, including the state-run news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti and the newspaper Kommersant.

Their homepages temporarily displayed a message opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, news agency AFP reported.



"Dear citizens. We urge you to stop this madness, don’t send your sons and husbands to certain death. Putin makes us lie and puts us in danger," the message written in Russian said.


"We have been isolated from the whole world, oil and gas are no longer traded. In a few years, we will be living like in North Korea," it added.

When Euronews Next attempted to access TASS’s website on Monday morning, a message appeared saying "an error occurred".




An error message on TASS’s website on Monday morning.Euronews

Euronews Next could not independently verify how many websites were affected by the purported attack, nor for how long.
War on Russia

On Thursday, hours after Russia invaded Ukraine, the hacker collective tweeted from an account linked to Anonymous, @YourAnonOne, that it was “officially in cyber war against the Russian government”.

Since then, the group claims it was behind several hacks including distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks – where a site is paralysed because it’s bombarded with traffic – that brought down Russian government websites and that of RT, the country’s state-backed news service.

Ukrainian songs on Russian TV?

On Saturday, the websites of the Kremlin, the Duma - the lower house of the Russian parliament - and the Russian defence ministry were also down in an attack claimed by Anonymous on Twitter.

Anonymous also claimed on Sunday to have hacked Russian state TV channels, posting pro-Ukraine content including patriotic songs and images from the invasion. Euronews Next could not independently verify the claim.



"It's a fact some cyberattacks are carried out against Russia, but the extent of these attacks is difficult to gauge," Eric Schmitlin, cybersecurity consultant at Cendium Cyberdefense in Paris, told Euronews Next.

Attribution is also very tricky, he noted, especially in the case of the Anonymous collective, famous for the white Guy Fawkes masks donned by its mysterious members.

"Anonymous the group is actually not a group. It’s everyone and no one since anyone can claim to be part of Anonymous," Schmitlin said.

Ukraine war: Russians wait in queues for cash as rouble plunges and hyperinflation looms

Is Russia using cyberattacks in the war with Ukraine and could sanctions provoke more of them?

Simple but disruptive attacks

Still, the Anonymous, which emerged at the beginning of the 2000s, have historically been vocal about defending free speech and privacy, Schmitlin noted, adding that their actions in cyberspace, while fairly simple, had the potential to be “very disruptive”.

"To defend an institution, a government, you need a lot of resources. But to attack a system you only need one or two skilled persons. Just a dozen people could have a big impact," he said.

A growing battalion of hackers is believed to be teaming up to fight Russia in cyberspace.

Ukraine’s vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Saturday the country was setting up an "IT army" to counter Russia’s digital attacks.

"There will be tasks for everyone,” Fedorov said in a tweet that linked to a channel on the Telegram messaging app featuring a list of prominent Russian websites to target.

Brussels will apply a never-used EU law to host Ukrainian refugees. How does it work?

By Jorge Liboreiro & Shona Murray 

 • Updated: 28/02/2022

As Russian troops advance, thousands of Ukrainians have already entered EU territory.

 - Copyright Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The European Commission says it is ready to activate a never-used mechanism that could pave the way for millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion to find shelter across the European Union.

According to the United Nations, more than 500,000 refugees have fled from Ukraine into neighbouring countries, with more than half entering Poland.

Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and even Belarus have also registered new arrivals.

The Commission warns the military attack could result in one of Europe's largest humanitarian crises, with seven million Ukrainian expected to be displaced and 18 million to be affected by the conflict, from of a total population of 41 million citizens.

"It makes me want to cry all the time because I see what's happened in other regions. You know, our [region] is quiet, but there is people dying, and children dying. And they [Russia] have the audacity to say that it was us," Svitlana Ivanova, a Ukrainian refugee who fled to Romania, told Euronews.

In contrast to previous migration waves, member states have shown a rapid and unified political will to host the war refugees, even if the massive and abrupt influx poses a logistic challenge for governments.

Poland has opened its borders to all Ukrainians and dropped its requirement to show a negative COVID-19 test. Germany and Austria are offering free-of-charge train journeys for those seeking to reach their countries.

Meanwhile, Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for home affairs, says the executive is ready to trigger an old, obscure EU directive that could provide the bloc with a fast way to manage the influx of refugees.

"This is really a situation where we could have millions of people on our territory and then we need to make sure that they have the proper protection and that they have the proper rights," Johansson told Euronews during a visit to Romania, where she was visiting a camp for Ukrainian refugees.

"Most of Ukrainians coming now, they are coming with passports that give them visa free entry for 90 days. But we have to prepare for day 91."

Johansson hopes the Temporary Protection Directive could help EU countries manage and share the applications of all the Ukrainian nationals who are expected to enter the bloc in the coming weeks.

The instrument could be adopted for the first time as early as Thursday, she noted.

"I think there will be a broad support for [the activation]. We had a first discussion. Of course, everything goes very quick now, and some member states might need some more time, but I hope that we will be able to adopt it already on Thursday," the Commissioner said.

Ukraine war: More than half a million refugees have fled in just over four days, says UN

What is the Temporary Protection Directive?

Approved in 2001 after the wars in Yugoslavia and Kosovo, the Temporary Protection Directive is an exceptional scheme that grants immediate and temporary protection to displaced people from non-EU countries who have been forced to leave their homes due to an armed conflict, endemic violence or systematic violations of their human rights.

The mechanism is intended to work when the traditional asylum system is overwhelmed by a mass and unexpected arrival of migrants. It is designed to strike a "balance of efforts" between member states: the allocation of refugees is done according to the accommodation capacities of each country.

"This temporary protection mechanism really works if you have a lot of people already on your territory," said Johansson.

The text does not precise what constitutes a "mass influx" and simply describes a "large number of displaced persons" who are unable to return safely to their home countries.
How does the process work?

The first step must come from the European Commission.

After assessing the situation on the ground, the executive can put forward a proposal to member states. The analysis has to explain the profiles who will be allowed to apply for the temporary protection, an estimate of the size of the influx and the starting date of the mechanism.

Taking into account the Commission's proposal, the EU Council -- which consists of national ministers -- can vote to activate the temporary protection by a qualified majority (at least 15 member states that represent at least 65% of the EU population).

Due to their op-out clauses, Ireland and Denmark are not bound by the legislation.

The temporary protection is granted for one year and can be automatically extended twice for six months. The Council can decide to further extend the protection by another year if the circumstances that triggered the displacement are still present -- in this case, if the war in Ukraine is still ranging on.

In total, the protection can last up to three years.

Commissioner Johansson said the temporary protection mechanism could be adopted as early as Thursday.

Andreea Alexandru/Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

What are the obligations for EU countries?

After the Council votes in favour of activating the mechanism, all EU states – except Ireland and Denmark – are compelled to receive displaced people and adhere to a series of obligations.

The main obligation is to issue residence permits for those who have been granted temporary protection so they can legally reside in the country for the duration of their stay.

The law asks countries to reduce formalities "to a minimum" due to the urgency of the situation.

Additionally, EU countries are asked to help protected people to obtain work permits, training, suitable accommodation, access to social welfare, medical treatment and professional assistance. Children must be allowed to access the education system in the same conditions as the residents of the member state.

The directive also lays down criteria for the reunification of separated families in the case that one or several relatives enjoy temporary protection but others do not. Once reunited, all members have to be granted residence permits to stay in the host country.

Ukraine war: Huge Russian convoy advances on Kyiv as Moscow sanctions begin to bite

Does temporary protection equal asylum?

No. Being granted temporary protection under the EU directive does not automatically mean the person is granted asylum.

But those who have received temporary protection are able to lodge an asylum application at any time during their stay. If the application is rejected, the individual can continue to enjoy the special protection until the expiration date.
What happens after the temporary protection ends?

When the temporary protection ends and asylum has not been granted, the host country is legally entitled to ask the displaced person to voluntarily return to their country of origin.

If the person refuses, the government can execute a so-called forced expulsion, although the directive urges countries to consider "humanitarian reasons" that might make the return impossible.

Children enrolled in the education system and people with health conditions can be allowed to stay in the country after the temporary protection expires.

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How the Kobe earthquake could change the way we fight wildfires

By Damon Embling • Updated: 01/03/2022 - 

In partnership with

Copyright euronews


Every year, deadly wildfires destroy homes and consume vast swathes of natural habitat. In this episode we see how a new eco-friendly fire-fighting foam, could be a global game-changer.

Lessons from Kobe

Wildfires ravage many parts of the world and with predictions of hotter, drier weather we are likely to see even more of them in future. The Japanese city of Kitakyushu had 10 forest fires last year alone. It was here the fire service came up with the fire-fighting foam. It was originally conceived to reduce the water needed to put out building fires after the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

“During this earthquake, many fires started. At the time, fire hydrants and fire cisterns were destroyed by the earthquake and we couldn’t store water,” Sakamoto Masaaki, from the Fire and Disaster Management Bureau in Kitakyushu explained.

Teaming up with a city university and soap company, the fire service perfected the foam which is created by mixing a solution, made from naturally-sourced soap, into water.

The foam is chemical-free, biodegradable and works by disrupting water droplets.

“When the fire extinguishing agent is mixed, the droplet of water is not able to form and becomes sticky. So, it’s well absorbed in the openings of fabrics or wood,” Masaaki said.

The success of the foam focused researchers’ minds on how it could be used elsewhere, notably wildfires.

University of Kitakyushu research shows that it’s up to 266 times less harmful than other synthetic versions.
T

The fire-fighting foam is chemical-free, biodegradable and works by disrupting water droplets.© Euronews

“There is data showing that water consumption can be reduced to less than one seventeenth. And for environmental performance, it is much less toxic to fish and other aquatic life than synthetic extinguishing agents," said Dr. Kawahara Takayoshi, Director, Research & Development Department, Shabondama Soap Company Ltd.

“In addition, as it is 100 percent decomposed by environmental microorganisms, there is no residue in the environment,” he added.

“International academic conferences for wildfires are organised across the world. We took part with university professors and staff from Kitakyushu City fire department. Some people were interested in our environmentally-friendly extinguishing agent,” Morita Hayato, President of Shabondama Soap Company Ltd, told Euronews.
Protecting peatland

The foam has made its way to Borneo island. Home to dense forests and waterways, peatland fires are a particular problem. Indonesian university researchers have been trying out the foam in a range of experiments - including on a test fire.

Ten months later, they found the vegetation had grown back.

From my previous experiences, putting out fires with only water is very difficult. But by using this soap, in a short time we get very good results.

Kitso Kusin

Field Coordinator, CIMTROP Peatland Laboratory, Palang Karaya University

When peat catches fire, embers can continue burning underground for a long time, releasing harmful gases. The Japanese soap-based foam penetrates the soil, putting them out. Something that was invaluable in Borneo in 2019, during a real forest fire.

The foam has been tested and used in Borneo.

Euronews

Field Coordinator Kitso Kusin told Euronews: “After we put out the fire, the next day it was back on. Luckily at that time, there was a stock of Shabondama soap left over from the previous field testing that we used to put out the fire.

“Even though we didn’t have much soap left, we felt that the results were very effective in putting out the remaining fires.”

Back in Japan, green-minded Kitakyushu now plans to test the foam in Chiang Mai, in Thailand, too. Further building on university-industry collaborations and helping to cut global CO2 emissions.

“We hope that with the use of this foam fire extinguisher, we can control CO2 emissions a little and greatly contribute to climate change measures,” said Arita Yuichi, Director of Kitakyushu City's Environment Bureau.