Recent Suncor fatalities 'devastating' for survivors of other workplace tragedies


CALGARY — When Alyssa Grocutt's father died, the funeral home engraved his fingerprints onto a necklace for her to keep as a memento.

Recent Suncor fatalities 'devastating' for survivors of other workplace tragedies© Provided by The Canadian Press

Thirteen years later, Alyssa still wears the necklace daily. It's the only physical object she now carries with her to remind her of her dad, but in 2008 — in the immediate aftermath of his death at an oilsands site in northern Alberta — her grief was so raw that she clung to anything he had once touched or used.

"There was one screwdriver he had that for the longest time I slept with. I slept in hisT-shirts," says Alyssa, who was 11 years old at the time.

Kevin Grocutt was 40 years old and had been working for 10 months as a heavy duty mechanic contracted to Suncor Energy Inc. when the broken-down haul truck he was trying to fix rolled, catching him under the tire.

Alyssa was at homewith her mother, who was preparing dinner, when a police officer knocked on the door.


"It certainly made me grow up faster than a lot of my peers," Alyssa says. "It was very challenging."

Kevin Grocutt was one of 1,035 people in Canada who died of work-related causes in 2008, according to statistics from the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada.

Since then, 945 people, on average, have died from workplace injuries or illnesses every year in this country, according to the same source.Though the exact number fluctuates up and down slightly, it has not declined in any meaningful way over the years despite Canada having some of the most stringent occupational health and safety laws in the developed world, according to some experts. It's also in spite of ever-increasing awareness campaigns, improved technology and corporate protocols.

“I often hear people say, ‘Oh, with new technologies, we must be seeing these numbers go down.' But we’re not," says Alyssa, who is now a PhD candidate at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., where she researches the impact workplace injuries and fatalities have on the victim's family, colleagues, and supervisors.

"When we look at it over time, we’re seeing these numbers either stable or increasing."

In recent months, a high-profile string of workplace deaths at Suncor, and the resulting criticism of the company by well-known U.S.-based activist investor Elliott Investment Management, has thrust the issue of workplace safety back into the spotlight.



Since 2014 alone, the Calgary-based company has had at least 12 fatalities at its oilsands facilities in northern Alberta, more than all of its industry peers combined. Former CEO Mark Little pledged earlier this year to address the problem, and the company carried out an independent safety review. Yet in spite of these efforts, in July, another Suncor contract worker died on the job. The company announced Little's resignation the next day.

Kris Sims, who has been named interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found, told analysts last month that the company already knows what it must do to improve its safety performance and now must "execute." He didn't provide details, but the company is set to hold an investor presentation this fall to update the financial community on its plans.

“Suncor, a large company, is continually looking at quality control and improvement and yet there continues to be tragedies," says Shirley Hickman, founder and executive director of Threads of Life, a non-profit organization that aims to support families affected by workplace fatalities, injuries and occupational diseases.

"So what happens to the small employer who doesn’t have the same resources as a Suncor? There's more and more promotion around workplace safety, so what is that puzzle piece that we're missing?"

Hickman — whose own son Tim was about to turn 21 and was working part-time for the City of London, Ont. in March of 1996 when he was fatally injured in an arena explosion — said she believes many organizations are still struggling with embedding safety in the workplace culture. They may have all the proper rules and procedures down on paper, but shortcuts are still being taken on the job.

"If a worker sees something that they feel is unsafe, they have to feel free to bring that to their supervisor," Hickman said, adding she believes many workers are still reluctant to be the "squeaky wheel."

"And if they’re not being heard, they have to have the confidence to step aside – or, if necessary, leave their job. But that is hard to do."

Wynny Sillito of Calgary says she wishes more people were aware of the ripple effects of workplace accidents and injuries. In 2011, she was a 23-year-old paramedic, part of a team who responded to reports of an accidental chemical release at an oil and gas site near Grande Prairie, Alta. While attempting to assist the worker who had been injured, Sillito herself was exposed and suffered chemical burns all over her upper body.

She recovered from her injuries, but Sillito's mental and emotional journey was gruelling. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which she still deals with to this day.

“You don’t have to be the one who loses a limb or loses a piece of themselves to have your life forever changed," Sillito said.

Because she herself was injured on an oil and gas site, Sillito said she's found the headlines about Suncor and its string of tragedies "devastating."

"Oil and gas is this big, broad industry and so many people are connected to it in some way," she said. "Every time there's a fatality, it doesn't matter what caused it — anyone who loves someone who works in oil and gas will end up feeling that stress."

That's certainly true for Alyssa Grocutt. Every time a workplace death makes the news, she flashes back to that day in 2008 that changed her life forever.

“It’s hard hearing of another fatality, especially when it's in a similar location to where my dad was. Some are even in similar situations," she said. "Always, I think about the families that are left behind and also the co-workers who had to witness it."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2022.

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

B.C. scientists hopeful in fight against mites that puncture and kill honeybees


SURREY, B.C. — Chemistry professor Erika Plettner gestures towards beehives surrounded by tall, dry grasses as she explains the multiple pressures facing honeybees worldwide.



Pesticides, pathogens and the effects of climate change are putting bees and their role as pollinators of the world's food crops in peril, she says.

So Plettner and her team of researchers are working towards mitigating one tiny yet deadly risk factor — the varroa mite.

The team at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia's Lower Mainland is testing a chemical compound that appears to kill the mites without harming the bees, in hopes it could one day be widely available as a treatment for infested hives.

Varroa mites kill bees by puncturing their cuticle, or exoskeleton, creating a wound that doesn't close, Plettner said.

That leaves an opening for disease and weakens bees' immune systems, she said in an interview at the researchers' experimental apiary outside Surrey, B.C.

"That's what then ultimately makes (the bees) collapse during wintering," she said.

Plettner and her team are testing the safety and efficacy of the compound identified in her lab some years ago, which appears to paralyze and then kill the mites.

The bees involved in the experiment fly in and out of their hives as Plettner explains that the researchers don't yet understand exactly how the compound works.

"We don't know the actual protein in the mite to which the compound binds, or a collection of proteins. We know that paralysis usually involves the nervous system of the mite," she said.

Her team recently obtained funding from Genome British Columbia, a non-profit organization, to work with researchers at the University of British Columbia to investigate how the compound affects the mites, she added.

The researchers place a sheet of sticky paper beneath the hives to collect the dead mites for analysis in their lab, she said.

So far, the chemical compound looks promising as a potential treatment alongside five or six others currently available, Plettner said.

It's important to rotate through different treatments from year to year, she said, because the mites are starting to show resistance to what she called the "gold standard" of existing treatments.

The varroa mite originally parasitized honeybees in Asia before spreading to Afro-European honeybee populations about 100 years ago, she said.

"In terms of evolutionary time, this is relatively short. And that's why our bees are so affected by this, because ... in an evolutionary sense, they haven't had a chance to develop, through selection, natural defences."

Efforts are underway to find bees that are more naturally resistant to the mites, said Plettner, noting one of her own hives at her home has had no mites this summer, while the neighbouring hive was "boiling over" with the pests.

"Every once in a while, you get a hive that is quite resistant to the mite, and this is a subject of very intensive research and bee breeding efforts."

It will take some years to commercialize the compound, making it available as a treatment, Plettner said.

The researchers still need to understand how it works and demonstrate that it's safe for bees, beekeepers and the surrounding environment, she said.

It's especially important to mitigate varroa mite infestations given the range of environmental pressures bees are facing, Plettner said.

Climate change is affecting the ecology of honeybee habitat, changing the availability of the flowers and plants they need to survive, she said.

Moreover, bees are part of a system of intensive agricultural practices that employ pesticides and herbicides across Canada and worldwide, she said.

"Even if near the apiary is not sprayed, bees will fly quite far, up to two kilometres, to seek flowering plants and food," she said. "So they can get accidentally contaminated with substances that are harmful."

At the same time, many plants that are considered weeds and targeted with herbicide by agricultural operators are important for bees, Plettner said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2022.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

Turn of the tide: Authoritarian regimes' influence waning around the world

A decade ago, the influence of China and Russia was expanding and authoritarianism appeared to be spreading worldwide. But Bulgarian political scientist Evgenii Dainov believes the tide has now turned.

The political future is bleak for Russia's Vladimir Putin (left) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, thinks Evgenii Dainov

There are different ways of looking at the world. One is to see it as a batch of things arranged in a certain manner. Another is to see it as a cluster of processes that are always on the move, creating what Shakespeare called "tides in the affairs of men."

Back in 2016, there were several authoritarian populist regimes in Europe. In a fit of extraordinary levity, the United Kingdom voted for Brexit, and the US voted for Donald Trump. Further east, Russian President Vladimir Putin was tightening his grip on Europe's economy and its elites, while Chinese leader Xi Jinping was quietly increasing his Communist Party's control over everyday life. The future looked distinctly authoritarian.

Tourists watched a Chinese military helicopter fly by in massive military drills off Taiwan in August

That tide is now beginning to turn. Three almost simultaneous events in recent weeks are clear indicators.

First came the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which Beijing failed to stop, despite making a great deal of noise about it. Official China was reduced, as the Russian saying goes, to "swinging its fists in the air after the fight has ended" by conducting military exercises around the island. By that point, Pelosi was long gone.

Then came the explosions at the Russian military air base Saky, in Crimea. The third event was the FBI search of Trump's home in Florida.

Beijing's response to Pelosi visit

No serious observer expected China to start making warlike noises because of an American politician's visit to Taiwan. Even Chinese commentators — insofar as they managed to make themselves heard on the other side of the "bamboo curtain" — seemed flabbergasted by Beijing's haste and rashness. Such behavior is atypical. After all, those in the Forbidden City have a habit of planning generations in advance.

China has built much infrastructure around the world, including the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro

Just 10 years ago, while the West was trying not to drown in its financial and sovereign debt crises, China was being painted as the economic "model" of the future. Moreover, its economic "soft power" seemed to be gradually taking over Asia, Africa, Latin America — and even the Balkans.

Decline in China's prosperity and influence

But any historian worth his or her salt will tell you that dictatorship, economic prosperity and growing international influence cannot exist side by side for long. Either the dictatorship has to go, or the prosperity and influence begin to dwindle. This is what has happened to China. As the dictatorship has grown stronger, the country's prosperity and influence have waned.

Today, China admits to a debt that is over 250% of its GDP — Greece was declared bankrupt at 127%. China experts have warned that there is additional hidden debt, which is around 44% of the admitted debt. Add all this up and we are talking about a total debt in the region of 350% of GDP — a completely incredible and totally untenable situation.

Security personnel scuffled with demonstrators in July after some rural-based banks in Zhengzhou froze deposits

When dozens of provincial banks became unable to serve their customers recently, tanks were sent in to protect the banks from the incensed population.
Mobilizing support with belligerent behavior

Xi Jinping wants to be reelected general secretary of his party. Yet he cannot afford to stand in that election as the man on whose watch the economy went "belly up," as the Americans say. He has obviously decided to "do a Putin," in other words to mobilize support with belligerent behavior.

We no longer see a China that is confident that the future is hers. We see a failing authoritarian regime on the verge of panic.

BRICS fails to reach stated aims

The blowing up of the Saky air base in Crimea tells us something similar — this time about Russia.

Ukraine's air force said on August 10 that nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in a deadly string of explosions

Only 10 years ago, while China looked like the great economic power of the future, Russia seemed to be a hegemonic geopolitical power in the making. Back in 2006, it had even cobbled together an international alliance called BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China, joined by South Africa in 2010), the stated aim of which was to end global American hegemony in the field of advanced technology.

The original BRIC states also vowed to undermine the international standing of the US dollar by producing their own BRIC currency. In Europe, Russian hybrid "soft power" was taking over politics, culture and the media.

Putin attended the 2022 BRICS Business Forum in June via videoconference

By 2020, however, it was becoming clear that the BRICS alliance had been unable to achieve any of its stated aims. BRICS had not superseded the Americans in the field of advanced technology, nor managed to dent the US dollar.

Russia's soft power on the wane

Meanwhile, Russia's version of "soft power" was also beginning to fizzle out. Trump lost the presidential election in the US in 2020, and in Europe, authoritarian and populist parties sustained and (in some cases) financed by Putin were rapidly losing ground.

In 2017, Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election against Putin ally Marine Le Pen, running on a modern, progressive, non-nationalist platform. In the Bavarian election of 2018, the far-right Alternative for Germany party, instead of sweeping the board as expected, was undermined by the Greens, which became the second-most powerful party.

Three-time French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has enjoyed friendly relations with Putin in the past

In 2019, the Strache scandal decapitated the Austrian far right. In Poland and Hungary, the regimes began losing control of big cities in local elections. Finally, despite much pre-election bombast, the European far right did not win the 2019 elections to the European Parliament.

Europe: Putin's allies begin to lose sway

Europeans were turning Putin's friends out of power, replacing them with centrist-liberal-green coalitions. In 2021, the far right was thrown out of parliament in Bulgaria, as people elected to power a progressive center-green coalition. Two months previously, Germany had elected a left-green-liberal coalition government.

As he saw his "soft power" taking hits throughout the civilized world, Putin saw that "hard power" was his only remaining option to influence the course of geopolitical events. On February 24, 2022, he used that hard power.

Putin's use of Russia's 'hard power' has left behind devastation in Ukraine

The plan was obvious: Putin expected to subjugate Ukraine in a matter of days, whereupon he would move further West to begin redrawing the borders of European states. He planned to attain with tanks what he had failed to attain with "hybrid" weapons.

No quick victory for Russia

But the Ukrainians did not share Putin's faith in his tanks. By August 2022, Moscow's army had lost the initiative and was reduced to taking up defensive positions. In this context, the explosions in Crimea have demonstrated that Russia's defensive positions are not easily tenable and that Russia is likely to lose this war — and after that, everything. Its "hard power" has become the laughing stock of the world. It no longer has "soft power." It also no longer has a viable economy.

We are witnessing the end of the ideologies of the "Russian world" and of the "Chinese model." It is becoming clear that we in the democratic world are not doomed sooner or later to live under such "models." They are no longer advancing. They are retreating.
Trump facing criminal charges

The FBI's search of Trump's home, in turn, signals the waning of the threat of authoritarianism within the democratic world.

Many confidential documents were seized by the FBI during its search of former president's home in August

Ten years ago, America, that bastion of democracy, seemed to be teetering on the brink. By 2016 it had elected a president who was openly in awe of dictators around the world. People worried that America was on the road to its own authoritarian "model." Today, Trump is no longer president and instead may soon face criminal charges.

Serbia and Hungary

The nations of Europe have also grasped the connection between authoritarianism, criminality and ultimately, war — as in the case of Putin. Europe today has only two surviving authoritarian regimes, those in Serbia and Hungary. In Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic is visibly trying to wriggle out of Moscow's embrace and doesn't appear to be on the ascendant at all.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban is no longer propagating his model of an "illiberal state" as the future, having been reduced to acting as the foreign sales manager for Gazprom in Europe. That is not a good position for an autocratic strongman to be in, and his nation will turn her back on him, as the Bulgarians did in similar circumstances, abandoning "strongman" Boyko Borissov after 12 years.

Orban (left) has maintained close ties with Putin over the years

In any case, nobody looks up to Hungary and Serbia as models of a desirable future. On the contrary, both regimes seem like rusted wreckage from a dark, bygone age.

Tide has turned

Against this backdrop, the FBI raid on Trump's home is a signal not only that the political time of such men (why does it always seem to be men?) has passed, but also that, as their political futures disappear, what awaits them are criminal charges.

People like Putin, Xi Jinping and their imitators will be around for a long time. But theirs is not the future. The "tide in the affairs of men" has turned. Now it is our job to take it "at the flood," securing a future in which government of the people, by the people, for the people remains dominant.

Bulgarian academic, author and political analyst Evgenii Dainov is professor of politics at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia.

Edited by: Rüdiger Rossig and Aingeal Flanagan

OUTSOURCING TO CHINA

How North Korean hackers keep the regime afloat

As international sanctions increasingly isolate North Korea from global sources of finance, Pyongyang's army of hackers is ramping up attacks on vulnerable cryptocurrency accounts around the world.

Kim Jong Un's regime is reportedly using its hackers to access other people's money

A report released in mid-August by the US-based blockchain analysis company Chainalysis suggests that hackers stole $1.9 billion (€1.9 billion) in the first seven months of this year, up significantly from the $1.2 billion in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin that was taken in the same period last year.

And from the digital fingerprints left in the hackers' wake, the company estimates that more than $1 billion of the total was stolen by "bad actors affiliated with North Korea, especially elite hacking units like Lazarus Group."

The hackers have a number of approaches to access cryptocurrency accounts, with North Korea's state-sponsored units presently focusing on exploiting decentralized finance protocols, it said. Also known as DeFi, this is an emerging technology in the sector that permits users to privately exchange cryptocurrencies without the need to go through an intermediary or involving public blockchains.

The problem with DeFi protocols, analysts point out, is that they use open source code that can be studied for weaknesses and then exploited by cybercriminals.

Hacks in a variety of guises take place on a daily basis, the experts agree, with criminals recently exploiting a vulnerability in General Bytes Bitcoin ATM servers to syphon off cryptocurrency during transactions and crypto start-up Nomad resorting to offering bounties for anyone who helps the company to trace $190 million in digital currency that was seized in a hacking attack in early August.

"Crypto hacks have been getting bigger year on year simply because the TVL [total value locked] in DeFi has been growing consistently," a South Korea-based analyst for a digital asset investment firm told DW.

'Preying on South Korean users'

"North Korean hackers have been extremely successful since the early 2000s, preying on South Korean users with voice phishing attacks and on local banking services, which is why Korean banks are so over the top with security in comparison with Western banks," said the analyst, who declined to be identified for security reasons.

South Korea's concerns first began to be realized in a series of incidents two decades ago in which hackers were able to carry out denial-of-service attacks on the South's infrastructure, from banks to power plants, hospitals and government ministries and agencies. Those attacks soon went further afield, with North Korea linked to the 2019 hacking attack on a nuclear power plant in India and the WannaCry ransomware attack that caused chaos in hospitals and other critical facilities around the world.

With sanctions on Pyongyang tightening as Kim Jong Un refused to bow to increasing international pressure over his nuclear and ICBM programs, the regime has been using its hackers to access other people's money. Some $81 million was taken in a 2016 robbery that is commonly known as the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist, but the emergence and rapid growth in relatively unregulated cryptocurrency has been an opportunity for North Korea.

There are broadly two methods that hackers employ, according to Aditya Das, an analyst at cryptocurrency research firm Brave New Coin in Auckland, New Zealand.

"As well as taking advantage of DeFi vulnerabilities — which the North Koreans have become very good at — another frequent tactic is spearfishing, or using social media sites under an assumed name to contact people who are in the cryptocurrency sector, opening a conversation with them, building a friendship and then asking about the technology they are working on," Das told DW.

Kim Jong Un has refused to bow to increasing international pressure over 

his nuclear and missile programs

"In many cases, they will then make an offer of a very well-paid job but ask for some evidence of the technology that the person is working on," he said. "As soon as they have some inside information or direct access, they can send a file with malware attached and access a system."

Das admits that unknown individuals reach out to him numerous times a day and that his spam file "is full of these approaches."

"Part of the problem is that the crypto space is not regulated or registered as these companies favor revenue over security," he added.

Once the cryptocurrency has been taken, it can often be very difficult to trace, although the authorities are getting more adept.

US sanctions hackers

On May 6, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned virtual currency mixer Blender.io for supporting the "malicious cyber activities and money-laundering of stolen virtual currency" by North Korea. The agency identified the Lazarus Group as being behind a series of heists and providing the funds to the North Korean government "for its unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs."

The most lucrative hacking attack to date took place in March, when Ronin Network, a critical bridge chain, was attacked. The theft was put down to a "social engineering attack combined with human error" — suggesting that someone let down their guard and opened an infected attachment to an e-mail — and the hackers made off with more than $620 million.

North Korea's hunger for currency is not diminishing and Kim Jong Un has an army of skilled hackers at his disposal, so the experts fear more similar cases are inevitable.

"The DeFi community has a strong network of 'white hat' hackers who actively seek to combat this and assist," said the South Korea-based analyst. "But there is only so much they can do."

BITCOIN EXPLAINED: HOW IT WORKS AND WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR
The cryptic token
Bitcoin is thought of as a digital currency because it exists only virtually, without any physical coins or notes. It resides in a decentralized, encrypted network that is independent of commercial or central banks. This allows Bitcoin to be exchanged under the same conditions all around the globe. It's also a cryptocurrency, because it uses encryption to conceal users' identities and activities.
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Edited by: Shamil Shams

 

 

Russian propaganda spread on fake news sites

The website looks authentic, but it isn't. Fake news sites showing well-known media brand names are acting as vehicles for Russian propaganda, among other things.

These days it is getting increasingly difficult to tell real from fake news

A teenager falls off his bike and dies because he didn't see potholes in the dark without street lights. Ukrainians are allegedly buying apartments in Russia with aid money from Europe. Or there's a strange gas explosion in a school in the German city of Bremen caused by savings measures.

All of these fake reports have circulated online in the past few days. What is special about them is this: They appeared on websites closely resembling those of German news outlets such as spiegel.de, welt.de, bild.de and t-online. It is often barely possible to tell the difference from the original.

Misusing trusted brands

"Imitating websites and spreading fake news and propaganda via apparently reputable media outlets whose name has been misused is something that has not yet existed in this form in Germany," said Felix Kartte, head of Reset, an NGO that campaigns for the regulation of tech companies.

The journalist Lars Wienand, who exposed the most recent pro-Russian disinformation campaign in an article for t-online, found more than 30 such faked sites, and the German outlet succeeded in putting an end to the phenomenon relatively quickly.

"We saw it on August 26 and wrote to the server in the Netherlands straightaway. On August 29, the site had disappeared," Wienand told DW. "But it popped up again in Colombia shortly afterward."

The site has since been removed from the web there as well. "The colleagues were able to solve the problem with the help of the IT service company Cloudflare and the company with which the site had been registered," Wienand said.

No site notice, no contact

Unfortunately, such successes are rare. Many media outlets do not manage to contact the websites in question. "Because faked websites basically never have a site notice," says Weinand, there are no addresses or people to contact. And when the host is outside Europe, he said, any legal action is mostly in vain.

That is also the experience of publisher Axel Springer, which runs two of Germany's biggest daily newspapers, Die Welt and Bild. "Unfortunately, the instigators can almost never be pinned down," the company said in a statement. "As a rule, we examine whether anything can be done legally and, depending on the prospects of success, initiate our own proceedings or instruct external law offices to enforce our demands."

The publisher of Germany's Der Spiegel reached out to its readers directly, informing them in an article about the almost perfectly faked news websites with pro-Russian propaganda using the Spiegel design.

"Normally, we are very reticent about reporting on imitated websites because there are usually dubious, commercially motivated interests behind them that we do not want to reward by attracting our readers to them," the publishing house said. But it added that in the case of this current fake news campaign, the need to provide information took precedence.

EU Commissioner for Competition Policy Margrethe Vestager wants to better regulate online platfroms

Salvation through the 'Digital Services Act'?

This powerlessness to act in the face of constant fake-news waves on the internet could soon be over, says expert Felix Kartte. These practices would be "a good place to apply the Digital Services Act (DSA)," he said.

This act, passed in July this year by the European Parliament, requires platforms, among other things, to ratchet up their prevention and monitoring of, and reactions to, disinformation campaigns. It will probably go into force in the fall and must then be implemented by the EU member states.

Kartte is certain that "if the DSA was already in force, media outlets would have more effective ways to lodge complaints against the platforms, and the fake sites would have been taken down." He says media outlets are interested in the measure being implemented, as it would mean that fake sites would be deleted more quickly and that their effect would be curtailed in scope.

Evading regulators

Spiegel hopes the DSA will "make it easier to enforce the law with regard to content shared over major platforms."

The past had, however, shown time and time again that "distributors of illegal content usually find ways to keep reaching their audiences while evading regulators."

Even though Germany has never before experienced such a wave of fake reports circulated via phony websites, disinformation is hardly a new phenomenon in Europe. Back in 2018, a major Swedish fact-checking platform, established by five publishing houses, was imitated by a fraudulent website of the same appearance.

Josef Holnburger of Cemas, an organization that analyzes conspiracy theories and far-right content, argues that individuals who run disinformation campaigns should be banned from social media platfroms.

"Deplatforming works! Removing bad actors from platforms like YouTube means reducing their reach," says Holnburger. Adding that while they may set up new accounts on other platforms, in most cases, they will then be sharing these with a much smaller group of like-minded users only.

This article was translated from German

Russia warns Moldova over Transnistria troops

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned Moldova not to endanger its troops in Transnistria, or risk an attack. Russian forces have been stationed in the breakaway region in the country's east since the 1990s.

Transnistria's coat of arms

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week warned Moldova not toendanger Russian troops stationed in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region in the country's east, saying doing so could spark military confrontation.

In a television interview with a Russia station this Thursday, Lavrov said "any action that would threaten the security of our troops would be considered under international law as an attack on Russia."

Several hours earlier, Lavrov had accused Moldova's pro-European President Maia Sandu of blocking talks to resolve the Transnistria conflict. "Transnistria and Russia support direct dialogue, but judging by statements made by President Maia Sandu and her team, they do not want such dialogue, as they are being directed by the US and EU to reject talks," Lavrov said. "Apparently, they are seeking a non-diplomatic solution to the Transnistria problem."

Sergey Lavrov warned Moldova a military confrontation could be on the cards

Disingenious reasoning

Several days earlier, Transnistria's separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselsky had sent a letter to President Sandu requesting talks over a peaceful political solution to the Transnistria conflict. Moldova, however, only communicates with Transnistria's pro-Russian breakaway government through its bureau of reintegration, a governmental body headed by Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Serebrian.

In the television interview, Lavrov also said Russia would defend Russian speakers in Moldova, reminding viewers that apart from Transnistria, the region of Gagauzia was also seeking special recognition in the country. He said he hoped "Molvoda's leadership would end the Western-dictated geopolitical games and instead think about the interests of the people, living side by side." In July this year, Lavrov already accused Moldova of working to "annul everything Russian, just like in Ukraine."

That same month, Moldova and Ukraine were granted EU candidate status.

Moldova's firm stance

Moldova's bureau of reintegration was quick to respond to Lavrov's comments. In a public statement, it said the country was committed to a peaceful resolution of the Transnistria conflict.

This, it added, entails "identifying a sustainable and comprehensive solution that respects the unified, sovereign and indivisible character of Moldova." It further said that such a solution would aim to consolidate Moldovan statehood, restore its territorial integrity and complete reforms throughout the country.

The governmental body also vehemently rejects claims that the rights of Russian speakers are being infringed. Instead, it claims that the rights of Romanian speakers with Moldovan passports are having their rights curtailed in Transnistria, where they are allegedly treated as foreigners.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has urged Moldovans not to fall for Russian propaganda

Manipulation

Speaking via video link at the Bled Strategic Forum in late August, President Sandu said she was aware of numerous inappropriate Russian comments towards her country, as well as statements disrespecting Moldovan sovereignty. She also said her country was in a delicate place, with war raging nearby.

In an interview with Moldovan television, Sandu warned her citizens not to let themselves be manipulated by statements originating "from Transnistria, Moscow or pro-Russian politicians in [the Moldovan capital] Chisinau." She said she had received letters from Transnistria's separatist administration, yet stressed all communication must go through Moldova's bureau of reintegration. She said everything would be done to keep the peace.

Sandu said both sides had begun communicating more frequently since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which had stemmed from a desire to avoid any kind of destabilization.

Russian speakers are not being discriminated against

This is not the first time Russia is using the Russian language as a pretext to foment instability in Moldova. In March this year, Russia's Moldava embassy contacted Russians in the country, asking them to report any instances of "national, linguistic, cultural or religious" discrimination. Scores of Russian speakers in Moldova responded by launching an online petition, urging Moscow to leave the country alone, saying they had experienced no discrimination whatsoever.

Tiraspol, the capital of Moldova's breakaway region Transnistria

Moldova's foreign ministry warned the Russian embassy not to stir unrest in the country, with President Sandu stating all citizens of the country can live in peace, regardless of their spoken language.

Following Lavrov's statements, Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescuon Thursday summoned Moldova's Russian ambassador. His ministry also issued a statement underscoring Moldova's commitment to respect the rights of Russian, Ukrainian, Gagauzian, Bulgarian and other ethnic minorities.

Russia has kept what it calls peacekeeping troops stationed in Transnistria since the early 1990s, after pro-Russian separatists took control of the region following a violent struggle. Moldova has demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops, which Moscow has previously committed to, as well as a UN monitoring mission dispatched to Transnistria.

This article was translated from German.

Russia-Ukraine updates: Kyiv offers nuclear energy to Germany

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said a proposal to export electricity to Germany amid the ongoing energy crisis would be "a very good deal for both sides." DW rounds up the latest.

Concerns still remain over the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant,

 which has been captured by Russian troops

Ukraine has said it plans to provide its surplus energy to Germany, in a bid to help Europe's largest economy end its dependence on Russian energy.

"Currently, Ukraine exports its electricity to Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. But we are quite ready to expand our exports to Germany," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the dpa news agency on Saturday.

"We have a sufficient amount of electricity in Ukraine, thanks to our nuclear power plants," he said. The issue will be discussed during Shmyhal's visit to Berlin over the weekend, where he will be meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

Electricity consumption in Ukraine has fallen since the start of the Russian invasion, due to the mass exodus of refugees and an economic slump.

Shmyhal said such a deal "would be very good for both sides."

"The EU would get more energy and we would get the foreign currency we urgently need," the prime minister said.

Ukraine operates four nuclear power plants with a total capacity of more than 14 gigawatts.

However, observers fear Russia's capture of the Zaporizhzhia facility — the largest nuclear power plant in Europe — could lead to a serious accident if the war intensifies.

Meanwhile, European Council President Charles Michel discussed the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi.

"The EU fully supports IAEA's work and efforts. Their courage and professionalism in accomplishing the first mission to ZNPP is impressive," Michel wrote on Twitter.

He also added that "ensuring nuclear safety and security is key" and "continued IAEA presence at the plant is necessary."

Here's a look at some of the other major news stories from Russia's war in Ukraine, on September 3.

IAEA says Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant again cut from main power line

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had been disconnected from its last remaining main power line to the grid and is now relying on a reserve line.

"Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has once again lost the connection to its last remaining main external power line, but the facility is continuing to supply electricity to the grid through a reserve line, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed at the site today," the agency said in a statement.

The Zaporizhzhia plant has been occupied by Russian troops since March. It has remained on the frontlines ever since, and, in recent weeks, Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame over shelling around the complex in southern Ukraine.

Oleksii Makeiev to be new Ukrainian ambassador to Germany

Ukraine officially announced Oleksii Makeiev as its new ambassador to Germany, succeeding Andriy Melnyk in the role. Makeiev worked as political director in the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv for many years.

The Ukrainian government sought an agrément — the agreement of Germany to receive a diplomatic mission — for Makeiev, a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.  German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has already given his approval.

Melnyk was recalled from his post in mid-July by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and is due to leave Germany on October 14 to take up a post in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

Melnyk often criticized the German government for its stance on Russia, even before Moscow's invasion began. Since then, he has repeatedly demanded more weapons from Germany to help Ukraine fight off the attacks.

Germany's gas situation tense and could worsen, regulator warns

Gas is flowing in Germany, but the country's regulator has warned the situation is "tense and further deterioration cannot be ruled out."

Russia has scrapped a Saturday deadline to resume flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, saying it had found an oil leak in a turbine during maintenance near St. Petersburg.

"The defects alleged by the Russian side are not a technical reason for the halt of operations," the German regulator said.

Turkey can be facilitator on Ukraine nuclear plant, Erdogan tells Putin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that Turkey could mediate in a standoff over Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

"President Erdogan stated that Turkey can play a facilitator role in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as they did in the grain deal," the Turkish presidency said after a phone call between the two leaders.

The grain agreement brokered by the UN and Turkey in July allowed ships carrying Ukrainian food products to leave the country's Black Sea ports for the first time since the war began in late February.

Last month, Erdogan warned of the danger of a nuclear disaster when he visited Lviv for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"We are worried. We do not want another Chernobyl,"  the Turkish leader said.

Erdogan and Putin are scheduled to meet face-to-face in Uzbekistan on September 15.

EU expects Russia to respect energy contracts

EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Saturday that he expects Russia will still meet its contractual obligations to supply gas, despite the Nord Stream pipeline being taken offline on Friday. But he is also prepared for the opposite scenario.

"We expect Russia to respect the contracts that they have," he said. "But even if weaponization of energy continues or increases, the EU is ready to react."

His comments came hours after Gazprom announced on social media that it intended to export gas to Europe via pipelines in Ukraine.

Ukraine offensive putting Russia under pressure

A broad Ukrainian offensive in Kherson province is putting pressure on Russian troops, according to the latest intelligence update from the British Defense Ministry on Saturday.

The ministry said the advance of Ukrainian troops into Russian-occupied areas west of the Dnieper River "likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise." It said the Ukrainian maneuver likely exploited "poor logistics, administration and leadership in the Russian armed forces."

The development could impact the war in other regions.

"With fighting also continuing in the Donbas and Kharkiv sectors, a key decision for Russian commanders in coming days will be where to commit any operational reserve force they can generate," the ministry said.

Russia 'alarmed' at not receiving US visas for UN meetings

Russia's UN ambassador has said it is "alarming" that none of the 56-member advance team and delegation headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has received a US entry visa, less than three weeks prior to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. 

"This is even more alarming since for the last several months the authorities of the United States have been constantly refusing to grant entry visas to a number of Russian delegates assigned to take part in the official United Nations events," Vassily Nebenzia said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.  

He emphasized that the US, as host country of the UN, is legally required to issue the visas. The UN meetings start on September 19. 

Ukraine bombs Russian base near occupied nuclear plant

Ukraine said it had bombed a Russian base in the town of Energodar, near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Friday.

"Targeted strikes by our troops in the localities of Energodar and Kherson have destroyed three artillery systems of the enemy as well as an ammunition depot," the Ukrainian army said.

The nuclear facility, which is Europe's largest, is being assessed by United Nations inspectors over safety concerns. A team from the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is currently visiting Zaporizhzhia. 

More on the conflict in Ukraine

Russian energy giant Gazprom has said gas supplies to Western Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have completely stopped due to equipment issues. Berlin has accused Moscow of weaponizing energy supplies.

Just how important is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant for Ukraine? It's Europe's largest nuclear power plant, but can the electricity grid function without it? DW's Ukrainian department explains the situation.

dh, zc, tg,/sri  (dpa, AFP, AP)