France Wants Care Home Firm Orpea to Return Funds: Minister

Angelina Rascouet, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- The French government is filing a legal complaint against Orpea SA and wants the elderly care home operator to return millions of euros in public funds it believes were misused.

“The State is filing a complaint,” Brigitte Bourguignon, the junior minister for elderly policy, said in an interview Saturday on France Inter radio. It follows two government probes into mistreatment at Orpea’s care homes that found “serious dysfunctions,” she added.

France will seek to get back money awarded to the company that was not properly used for the care of the elderly, she added. Those funds represent “various millions of euros,” she said.

Orpea has been embroiled in a scandal for the past two months following the publication of a book called “The Gravediggers” by investigative journalist Victor Castanet that described care home residents’ mistreatment. 

“There were flaws on the human side and the organizational side” as well as in the company’s finances, said Bourguignon. 

Orpea shares have lost almost 60% of their value since the start of the year. The first extracts of the book were published in Le Monde on Jan. 24.

The company didn’t immediately reply to an email and call requesting comment outside of normal business hours.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P

Amazon Games Studio Head Frazzini Steps Down

Jason Schreier and Priya Anand, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Mike Frazzini, a longtime Amazon.com Inc. employee who helped start Amazon Game Studios, is stepping down. The executive told staff Friday he was leaving to focus on his family, said Amazon spokesman Ryan Jones.

Amazon Game Studios was an expensive endeavor for the e-commerce giant, costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year, but for years failed to produce hit games. Frazzini, who previously worked in the books section of Amazon, was a relative game novice when he became head of the division. Some employees had criticized him for veering too far from game-making’s traditional playbook, Bloomberg reported last year.

The company did have a breakout hit this fall, with its release of online PC game New World. At a conference soon after the game's release, Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said that gaming could become the company’s largest entertainment category. Following New World's warm reception, former Amazon boss Jeff Bezos tweeted: “After many failures and setbacks in gaming we have a success. … Don’t give up no matter how hard it gets.”

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

India Asks Power Firms to Import Coal on Electricity Demand

Suvashree Ghosh and Rajesh Kumar Singh, Bloomberg News

A freight train laden with coal stands on the tracks in Paradeep, Odisha, India, on Monday, May 6, 2019. Authorities launched 

a massive restoration-and-relief effort after Cyclone Fani left a trail of damage in eastern India and Bangladesh. 

Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- India asked power manufacturers to keep importing coal to meet increasing demand for electricity even as prices of the fossil fuel surged.

The power companies need to resolve issues related to rising prices and stick to the power-purchase agreement, the Ministry of Power said in a statement on Saturday. 

“Not maintaining adequate fuel stocks or not giving availability on any pretext (such as high price of imported coal etc.) is inexcusable,” the government said.

Coal’s Comeback in India Shows Scale of Climate Challenge

Key coal prices hit record levels in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as utilities in Europe, along with other major consumers, hunt for alternatives to cargoes from Russia. The fossil fuel contributes nearly 70% of India’s electricity supply and most Indian power producers import the dirty fuel to blend with local coal to generate electricity.  

“It is requested that necessary action may be taken to import coal in transparent and competitive manner for blending purpose based on demand assessment and to deal with any shortfall of coal availability,” the government said.

Coal Surges 35% in One Week on Warning Supplies Are Sold Out

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

In Hiroshima, Japan PM, US envoy warn Russia over nuclear threat

US ambassador Rahm Emanuel (left) and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida

 at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, on March 26, 2022. 

PHOTO: AFP

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Prime Minister and its United States ambassador warned Russia against the use of nuclear weapons during a visit on Saturday (March 26) to Hiroshima, the site of an atomic bomb attack in World War II.

Their warning comes after Moscow on Tuesday refused to rule out deploying its nuclear arsenal, saying it could be used in the Ukraine war if Russia faced an "existential threat".

Japanese leader Fumio Kishida and ambassador Rahm Emanuel visited a peace memorial park and museum, where the US diplomat called Russia's position "unconscionable".


Around 140,000 people died when Hiroshima was bombed in 1945, a toll that includes those who survived the explosion but died afterwards from radiation exposure.

Three days later, Washington dropped a plutonium bomb on the Japanese port city of Nagasaki, killing about 74,000 people and leading to the end of World War II.

The US remains the only country ever to have used nuclear weapons in conflict.

Mr Emanuel issued a statement condemning Moscow's position.

"The history of Hiroshima teaches us that it is unconscionable for any nation to make such a threat," he said. "We live in unprecedented times as Russia threatens the use of nuclear weapons, something that was once unthinkable, even unspeakable."

Mr Kishida said "the horrors of nuclear weapons must never be repeated".

Days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine last month, President Vladimir Putin announced he had placed Moscow's strategic nuclear forces on high alert, in a move that sparked global alarm.

"We have a concept of domestic security, and it's public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN Tuesday.

"So if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept."

MU5735 UPDATED

China Says No Trace of Explosives Found in Jet Crash Samples

Bloomberg News, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) --

China said it hasn’t found any evidence of explosive materials in the wreckage of a flight that crashed with 132 people on board.

“Lab tests taken of 66 samples, 41 of which have been completed, showed no major common inorganic explosive or common organic explosive substances have been found,” fire official Zheng Xi said at a briefing in the southern city of Wuzhou on Saturday.

Zhu Tao, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, added that investigators found a transmitter installed close to a missing black box, but haven’t found the flight data recorder itself.

Some 24,000 pieces of wreckage have been retrieved, officials said, and remains of 120 people have been identified. The search is focused on an area with a radius of 300 meters (330 yards) from the main crash site, though part of a wingtip was found 12 kilometers away.

Mud, Confusion and Tears Amid Search for Jet Crash Answers

Rescue officials at the press briefing described a difficult search of the crash site, and showed pictures of investigators slogging through mud. The China Eastern Airlines Corp. 737-800 NG crashed in the southern region of Guangxi on March 21 while flying from Kunming to Guangzhou.

The plane plummeted from its cruise altitude of 29,000 feet, leveled off once and then appeared to fall straight down. Chinese state media have said the plane crash left a crater 20 meters deep.

Nothing Fits in Plane Crash Mystery: Next China

A China Eastern Airlines spokesman attended the briefing on Saturday, saying that it’s been difficult to meet all the needs of relatives of the passengers on the flight.

Many of the relatives are staying at a hotel near the crash site, officials have said.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Chinese search team yet to find second black box from China Eastern plane crash

Rescue workers at the site of the plane crash on March 24, 2022. 

BEIJING (REUTERS) - Chinese emergency workers have not found the second black box from the China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed this week with 132 people on board, officials said on Saturday (March 26).

But they have found an emergency location transmitter from the plane that had been close to where the second black box - the flight data recorder – had been installed, Mr Zhu Tao, director of the Aviation Safety Office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told reporters.

The team is also seeking the data module from the flight data recorder itself.

The other black box, the cockpit voice recorder, was found on Wednesday and has been sent to Beijing for examination by experts.

Flight MU5735 was travelling from the south-western city of Kunming to Guangzhou on the coast on Monday when the Boeing 737-800 plummeted from cruising altitude to crash in a heavily forested area of Guangxi region.

No survivors have been found.

A total of 120 people have been identified from samples taken from the site, said Mr Zheng Xi, head of Guangxi’s fire and rescue department.

None of the main components of common explosives were detected in the crash debris, he said.



Core site of China Eastern plane crash to be excavated as rescue work continues

Experts are working on an excavation plan for the core site. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

PUBLISHED
MAR 25, 2022

NANNING (XINHUA) - The core site of the recent plane crash in south China will be excavated as all-out efforts are made to continue searching for survivors and the second black box, officials said at a news briefing on Friday (March 25).

Field exploration and shallow surface excavation have been carried out at the core crash site in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said Mr Zhu Tao, head of the aviation safety office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Experts are working on an excavation plan for the core site, Mr Zhu said, adding that DNA samples are being taken from relatives of the missing passengers.

The China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft carrying 132 people crashed on the afternoon of March 21 in a mountainous area of Guangxi's Tengxian County.

No survivors have been found so far. One black box has already been recovered.

The search and rescue scope has been expanded to nearly 200,000 square metres, and more than 2,200 people have joined the rescue efforts, said Mr Lao Gaojin, the vice- mayor of Wuzhou City that administers Tengxian.

China jet's nosedive from 29,000 feet baffles crash specialists

Flight MU5735 was at about 29,000 feet altitude when it started plunging at a far greater rate than normal. 

PHOTOS: SCREENGRAB FROM OALEXANDERDK/TWITTER, PEOPLE'S DAILY 

MAR 22, 2022

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - The China Eastern Airlines jet was flying a normal route to Guangzhou when it suddenly nosed over at cruise altitude and dove. That is about all that is known for certain about the unusual crash that killed all 132 people aboard the aircraft on Monday (March 21) in China's worst aviation accident in more than a decade.

While there have been a handful of crashes in which an airliner plunged from cruising altitude, few, if any, fit the extreme profile of the Boeing 737-800 as it pointed steeply towards the ground, according to veteran crash investigators and previous accident reports.

"It's an odd profile," said aviation safety consultant and former 737 pilot John Cox. "It's hard to get the airplane to do this."

As investigators search for the plane's two crash-proof recorders and begin poring over clues, they will be trying to determine why the jet made such an abrupt and severe dive, which sets it apart from earlier accidents.

They will be looking at the weather the plane encountered, whether the pilots made any distress calls, any hints in the wreckage of possible malfunctions and detailed profiles of the crew.

Flight MU5735 was at about 29,000 ft altitude roughly 100 miles from its destination - about the point at which the pilots would begin descending to land - when it started plunging at a far greater rate than normal.

Instead of gradually dropping by a few thousand feet per minute - which produces a barely detectable sensation for passengers - it began falling at more than 30,000 ft per minute within seconds, according to tracking data logged by Flightradar24.

Overall, it plunged almost 26,000 ft in the span of roughly one minute, 35 seconds, the data track showed. The plane's dive appeared to have halted for about 10 seconds and it climbed briefly, adding an unusual twist to the scenario. But the Flightradar24 track, which is based on radio transmissions from the plane, then showed it resuming a steep plunge.

"It's very odd," said former accident investigation chief for United States Federal Aviation Administration Jeff Guzzetti.

While cautioning that the Flightradar24 data is preliminary, Mr Guzzetti and Mr Cox said the relatively straight track taken by the jet and the fact that its transponders were still broadcasting suggests that it did not break up in flight, as has been seen in some terrorist bombings.

Surveillance video

A surveillance video appearing to capture the plane in its final moments showed it in a steep dive towards the ground. Chinese media outlet The Paper said it had verified that the video was shot by a mining company near where the jet impacted, but its authenticity could not be independently verified.

There are precedents in which airliners suddenly began dropping from cruise altitude, but most of them have important differences, investigators said.

For example, Air France Flight 447, which went down in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, fell much slower and more erratically after speed sensors iced up and pilots became confused, according to France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety. All 228 people aboard the Airbus SE A330 died.

Though it went down from a much lower altitude, an Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings cargo jet dove suddenly into a marsh near Houston on Feb 23, 2019. In that case, the co-pilot became disoriented and pointed the nose towards the ground, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found. Its descent occurred over a much shorter period of time and it was not falling as fast the China Eastern plane.

Another crash that was similar occurred on Dec 19, 1997, when a pilot on a Silk Air 737-300 carrying 104 people dove into a river in Indonesia, killing everyone aboard. It was falling at more than 38,000 ft per minute, according to that nation's National Transportation Safety Committee.

A pilot most likely crashed that plane deliberately, the NTSB concluded. But Indonesian investigators and Singapore police said there was insufficient evidence to prove that.

Too soon for conclusions

It is far too early to draw conclusions on what led to the China Eastern crash, said former NTSB investigator Benjamin Berman, who also flew 737s. It is possible to come up with many scenarios for some type of malfunction, pilot miscues or some combination that led to the plunge, he said said. But none of them seem very likely.

He echoed what Mr Cox and Mr Guzzetti said - The 737-800, like other jetliners, is designed so that it will not normally dive at steep angles. That means it would likely take an extreme effort by a pilot or a highly unusual malfunction, he said.

Many things can cause at least the start of a dive - from a pilot suffering a heart attack and slumping onto the control column to a failure of the motor used to help raise and lower the nose. But they would tend to be more short-lived or there are easy ways for pilots to counteract such failures, he said. "You need something to hold the nose down," Mr Berman said.


MORE ON THIS TOPIC
China Eastern Airlines plane crashes in Guangxi: Previous aviation incidents in China

Boeing 737 plane in China Eastern Airlines crash has good safety record, unlike Max

No survivors found after China Eastern Airlines plane crashed carrying 132 people

Other crashes may provide clues to China jet's abrupt plunge

 

Syria’s al-Rukban refugee camp out of food as Assad regime intensifies siege

The camp residents have gone on for days without bread as the Syrian regime set up checkpoints along usual smuggling routes.

Life in al-Rukban camp for internally displaced Syrians is a constant scramble to find the next meal

On Mar 25, 2022

Al-Rukban, a camp for some 10,000 internally displaced Syrians on the Jordan-Syrian border, is suffering from a severe food shortage as Syrian regime soldiers crackdown on smuggling routes into the camp.

The camp went without any flour for almost a week, with “some families not eating one loaf of bread for five days”, Hamoud, a camp resident speaking under a pseudonym, told The New Arab. Residents resorted to creating dry, near inedible, bread out of wheat husks to cope with the hunger.

Smugglers, the only way for the camp to receive goods from the outside world, have been prevented from entering the camp over the last week and a half.

“Regime checkpoints have proliferated on the smuggling routes. Food goods have not been allowed to enter and there are harsh consequences for anyone caught trying to smuggle them in,” Hamoud said.

On Thursday, a smuggler was able to circumvent the checkpoints and enter the camp, carrying with them 19 sacks of flour. The flour was enough to supply the camp with bread for just two days.

In an effort to find more food sources, “water wells will be utilised to increase agricultural production”, Hamoud said. Camp residents have turned to small-scale farming for food, though the arid climate of the no-man’s land is hardly arable.

Al-Rukban was formed in 2014 as Syrians fled to the border seeking asylum in Jordan. Initially a waiting point before crossing the border, al-Rukban turned into a camp as Jordan stopped allowing most refugees from the camp into the country. At its peak, the camp hosted 75,000 refugees.

The camp has been besieged since 2018, with the Syrian regime not allowing any goods to enter since then.

Jordan also stopped allowing aid shipments from its border after Islamic State [IS] militant group staged an attack from the area, killing seven Jordanian border guards. The last UN aid convoy entered the camp in the fall of 2019, nearly three years ago.

A UNHCR-run clinic on the Jordanian border used to service the camp’s medical needs, but closed in May 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has remained shut. Respiratory diseases and malnutrition are common in the camp.

Children have died as a result of complications during childbirth and the lack of a medical infrastructure to treat them.

Camp residents could return to regime-held areas, but most refuse due to fears for their safety, citing instances of returnees disappearing or being tortured to death.

The United States military, through the International Coalition to Defeat IS, is in control of the area surrounding al-Rukban. It does not give any aid to the local residents, claiming that the responsibility to do so lies with Damascus.

Critics say that the US has a humanitarian obligation to the population of al-Rukban as the controlling power in the area.

Source: The New Arab

#BDS 

More than 70 universities around the world urged to divest from Israeli 'war crimes and apartheid'

Students from 70 universities around the world urged their institutions to stop investing in companies that are 'complicit' in the Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

Demonstrations against the Israeli occupation have intensified this week to commemorate Israeli Apartheid Week [Getty]

Pro-Palestine student activists have demanded that more than 70 universities across the world divest from companies that support Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.

The students are urging a "full withdrawal of investments in companies complicit in Israeli war crimes and apartheid" according to a press release from the Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), a British non-profit organisation.

The students aim to focus on universities investing in companies such as HP, Booking.com, Rolls-Royce and BAE.

HP provides technological services at Israeli checkpoints, Rolls-Royce and BAE produce weapons for the Israeli army. Booking.com advertises accommodation in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.

The Friends of Al-Aqsa is a UK based non-profit that aims to defend human rights of Palestinians and protect the Al-Aqsa complex in Jerusalem - Islam’s third holiest site - from the Israeli occupation, according to their website. The site lies within East Jerusalem, illegally occupied by Israel.

Apartheid Ave: Activists rename street with Israeli embassy

"Today's International Day of Action is an opportunity for university students from across the world to come together to call on their institutions to divest from Israeli apartheid," Shamiul Joarder, the Head of Public Affairs at Friends of Al-Aqsa told The New Arab.

"FOA is supporting students to organise actions on their campuses. We're hoping that today's campaign will encourage more universities to follow in Manchester's [University] footsteps. A successful divestment campaign led to Manchester divesting nearly £2m from companies complicit in Israeli apartheid in 2020."

More than 25 well-known academics signed an open letter urging universities around the world to divest from firms that support the oppression of Palestinians. Signatories include Professor Ilan Pappe of Exeter University and Professor Mohamed El-Gomati OBE at York University.

Activists, NGOs, and student organisations around the world are hosting a variety of events this week to raise awareness around Israel's crimes against the Palestinians as part of Israeli Apartheid Week.

Amnesty International renamed the street leading up to the Israeli embassy in London to "Apartheid Avenue", after leading NGOs designated Israel an apartheid state owing to its treatment of Palestinians.

MacKenzie Scott Donates More Than $2 Million To Habitat For Humanity Of Greater Pittsburgh

People have been inquiring about homes through the organization. The president encourages people in need to reach out.

By Amy Wadas

March 25, 2022 

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Pittsburgh nonprofit that provides housing for people in need received $2.5 million from well-known philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

The president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh said getting this $2.5 million will help the organization continue helping families in need.Top VideosCenter County Report 3‑26

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh just finished building three homes on North Braddock Avenue in Homewood last week. KDKA talked to one family who just moved in.



(Photo Credit: KDKA)

Three-year-old Zoey Campbell is already at home in her new bedroom. It’s a room she shares with her older sister. The Campbell family moved into the home on Sunday, so they’re still getting settled.

“At this point, I still feel like I’m on cloud 9,” said Jeremy Campbell.

The family of five used to live in a one-bedroom apartment in Bloomfield.

“All five of us were in one bedroom. So, we didn’t sleep very well,” said Mandy Campbell.

The family has been searching for a home for the last five years, but they couldn’t find anything affordable in Pittsburgh. They reached out to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh, got approved, and the rest is history.

“We took a look at their income, and they must have verifiable income. This is not a program where you can’t have income. You must have some income to qualify because we do provide a mortgage,” President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh Howard Slaughter Jr. said.

It’s a monthly mortgage with zero percent fixed interest for 30 years and a $950 down payment. Families also must complete 350 hours of sweat equity, which means participating in the building process. Slaughter Jr. said nonprofits like his couldn’t help people if it wasn’t for fundraising efforts and donors like Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

“It’s going to allow us to do much more of what we already do. In addition to that, we are going to be able to establish an endowment to help us continue into perpetuity,” Slaughter said.

“I can tell you that money is going to be used for good, especially with Pittsburgh habitat. They’ve changed our lives and they change lives daily,” said Mandy Campbell.

Slaughter said a lot of people have been inquiring about homes. He encourages people in need to reach out.

'We thought Taliban had changed': banned Afghan girls in shock school U-turn

The Taliban reversed a decision allowing Afghan school girls to return to secondary schools earlier this week, leaving several girls angry and in shock.

Afghan school girls have expressed shock in the Taliban's

 sudden decision to deny them from schools earlier this week [Getty]

MENA3 min read
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
25 March, 2022

Days after the Taliban staged a cruel U-turn on allowing Afghan girls back to school, Adeeba Haidari feels as if she is in prison.

The 13-year-old was one of thousands of jubilant girls who flocked back to secondary schools reopening across the country on Wednesday, for the first time since the Taliban seized power in August.

But just hours into classes, the education ministry announced a shock policy reversal that left schoolgirls feeling betrayed and the international community outraged.

"Not only me but everyone you asked believed that the Taliban had changed," said Adeeba, who briefly returned to Al Fatah Girls School in the capital, Kabul.

"When they sent everyone back home from school, we understood that the Taliban were the same Taliban of 25 years ago," her 11-year-old sister Malahat added.

"We are being treated like criminals just because we are girls. Afghanistan has turned into a jail for us".

When the Taliban returned to power, they promised a softer rule compared with their first regime from 1996 to 2001, which became notorious for human rights abuses.

They claimed to respect women's rights, in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, and said girls would be allowed to study through to university.

But the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on women, effectively banning them from many government jobs, policing what they wear and preventing them from travelling outside of their cities alone.

They have also detained several women's rights activists.

"We miss our freedom. We miss our classmates and teachers," said Adeeba.

RELATED
The Taliban and women's sport: Progress reversed


'Dreams shattered'

There has been no clear explanation for the last-minute reversal on secondary schools, but reports leaked from a secretive leadership meeting this week suggested motives ranging from problems with uniforms to an outright rejection of the need for education for teenage girls.

The education ministry still insists schools will restart, but only when new guidelines are issued.

Across town, Nargis Jafri, from the minority Shia Hazara community, said the Taliban feel threatened by educated women.

"They believe that if we study, we will gain knowledge and we will fight against them," the 14-year-old told AFP, sitting with her books spread out on her study table at home.

It is agonising for her to watch boys her age walking past her house on their way to school each morning.

"It is really hard and painful for me," she said.

Like many families, history is repeating itself from one generation to the next.

Nargis's mother, Hamida, was forced to leave school during the Taliban's first rule when she was about 10 years old.

The stories from what she thought was a distant past are flooding into her mind again.

"I used to feel strange when she told us how she wore a burqa or a chador, or how a woman was not allowed to go out without a male relative," Nargis said.

Hamida now struggles to accept a similar fate for her daughter.

"My daughter will be held back from going to school," she said. "The dreams she has in her heart will be shattered".

New TikTok users exposed to fake news about Russia-Ukraine war, study reveals

By The Cube • Updated: 22/03/2022

TikTok suspended most of their services in Russia following a government crackdown on information about Russia's war in Ukraine. - 

 Copyright Kiichiro Sato/Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved


New TikTok users are exposed to misinformation about the war in Ukraine within 40 minutes of signing up, according to a new report.

The study, published by the fact-checking group NewsGuard, found that new users searching for information about the conflict, "led to TikTok suggesting multiple videos that contained disinformation in its top 20 results".

The experiment was conducted by six NewsGuard analysts in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US, who scrolled through the social media platform's 'For You' page and watched any Russia-Ukraine related videos in full.

"Toward the end of the 45–minute experiment, analysts’ feeds were almost exclusively populated with both accurate and false content related to the war in Ukraine — with no distinction made between disinformation and reliable sources," the report read.

One misleading video -- which has amassed over 3 million views on TikTok -- purportedly shows Ukrainian armed forces storming the streets of Mariupol.


The video was first posted in 2014 during a crisis involving pro-Russian separatists.

False videos misrepresenting the war in Ukraine continue to spread across TikTok

Euronews via TikTok

Other popular examples include videos of the so-called "Ghost of Kyiv", who was said to have single-handedly brought down six Russian planes at the beginning of the invasion.


This has since been debunked by fact-checkers, who revealed that the footage actually came from the videogame "Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) World".

NewsGuard also said that "some of the myths in the videos TikTok’s algorithm fed to analysts have previously been identified as Kremlin propaganda".

In response, TikTok said that the experiment did "not mimic standard viewing behaviour".

"While this experiment does not mimic standard viewing behaviour, we continue to respond to the war in Ukraine with increased safety and security resources as we work to remove harmful misinformation and help protect a safe experience on TikTok".

They added that the company partners with independent fact-checking organisations to ensure that TikTok remains a "safe and authentic place."

TikTok surpassed Facebook in 2021 to become the first non-Meta owned app to host more than one billion monthly users.

Chine Labbe, Managing Editor at NewsGuard, told Euronews that the age of Tiktok's users means the spread of misinformation is "very troubling".

"When you use TikTok, you scroll down and scroll down and see an endless stream of videos," Labbe said.

"Think about a teenager watching a video of Putin speaking without any context or misleading videos about the war ... this is very problematic," she added.

"We know a lot of young people rely only on TikTok for their information."

Naysayers, Rumours, Fake News Have Made Covid-19 Battle Tough: Virologist

Fake news, rumour campaigns and naysayers have had a huge impact on the battle against Covid-19 over the past two years, top virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said in a Facebook post on Monday.



He said fake news was published and widely shared on social media, yet it was never corrected when the truth was revealed.

“Many people believe in such fake news if they consume it frequently, especially about Covid-19 and vaccines,” he said.

Yong added that rumour campaigns, which only carry about 20 per cent truth, generally cause traumatic stress among people, resulting in an impact on society and the economy. Also, he said, bullying from naysayers is very common in social media.

“Hence, media outlets should be honest and patient as the truth will eventually surface,” he said, adding that it was a pity people had lost opportunities to battle against the disease.

The virologist added that it was necessary to make children aware that they should not believe in news that has not been proven in line with cause and effect and scientific principles.

“They should be able to tell the difference between true and false, and should ensure that the news they share comes from reliable sources,” he said.

He added that people have learned to become patient and were striving to seek knowledge on the battle against a newly emergent disease over the past two years.

Published : March 13, 2022
By : THE NATION