Month: February 2023

Twitter Down in Turkey as Quake Response Criticism Mounts

Twitter became inaccessible on major Turkish mobile providers on Wednesday as online criticism mounted of the government’s response to this week’s deadly earthquake. AFP reporters were unable to access the social media network in Turkey. It was still accessible using VPN services that disguise a user’s location. The netblocks.org social media monitor said Twitter was being restricted “on multiple internet providers in Turkey”. “Turkey has an extensive history of social media restrictions during national emergencies and safety incidents,” the monitor added. Turkish police have detained more than a dozen people since Monday’s earthquake over social media posts that criticized how …

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Farmers Drive Tractors Through Paris in Protest at Pesticide Bans

French farmers drove hundreds of tractors into Paris on Wednesday to protest against pesticide restrictions and other environmental regulations they say are threatening farm production in the European Union’s largest agricultural power. The action follows an EU court ruling last month that overturned a French policy allowing sugar beet growers to use an insecticide banned by the EU, raising concern of a further decline in beet plantings and of sugar factory closures. The sugar beet decision has sharpened discontent among farmers over what they see as excessive pesticide curbs that go against government calls to boost food security in response …

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Rescue Crews Search for Earthquake Survivors in Turkey, Syria as Death Toll Tops 8,700

Rescue crews in Turkey and Syria raced against the cold Wednesday to find survivors buried in the rubble of buildings toppled by powerful earthquakes that struck the region Monday and left more than 8,700 people dead.        The rescue effort in Turkey involved 79,000 personnel, the country’s emergency management agency said Wednesday.     Officials in Turkey said at least 6,234 people were killed and more than 37,000 others were injured. In Syria, there were at least 2,470 deaths, according to figures from the Damascus government and rescue groups.     The epicenter of Monday’s pre-dawn earthquake was near Gaziantep, close to the …

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US State Court System, US, EU Universities Hit by Ransomware Outbreak

A global ransomware outbreak has scrambled servers belonging to the U.S. state of Florida’s Supreme Court and several universities in the United States and Central Europe, according to a Reuters analysis of ransom notes posted online to stricken servers. Those organizations are among more than 3,800 victims of a fast-spreading digital extortion campaign that locked up thousands of servers in Europe over the weekend, according to figures tallied by Ransomwhere, a crowdsourced platform that tracks digital extortion attempts and online ransom payments and whose figures are drawn from internet scans. Ransomware is among the internet’s most potent scourges. Although this …

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Разом з Німеччиною танки Leopard 1 Україні нададуть Данія та Нідерланди

Данія, Німеччина та Нідерланди нададуть кошти для відновлення щонайменше 100 старих танків Leopard 1, щоб передати їх Україні, йдеться у спільній заяві держав, оприлюдненій 7 лютого. Міністр оборони Німеччини Борис Пісторіус, перебуваючи з неоголошеним візитом у Києві, заявив, що до літа надійде від 20 до 25 танків, близько 80 – до кінця року і ще 100 – у 2024 році. Про такі наміри повідомив міністр оборони України Олексій Резніков. Наразі невідомо, скільки зі 178 танків, про надання яких Україні заявила Німеччина, будуть зрештою передані, оскільки їх ще треба відремонтувати і переоснастити. У спільній заяві щодо планів Данії, Німеччини та Нідерландів …

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US Indicts Another Associate of Sanctioned Russian Oligarch Vekselberg

The Justice Department is putting associates of Russian oligarchs on notice. In the latest indictment of its kind, an associate of sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg has been charged with violating sanctions and laundering money in connection with helping to maintain Vekselberg’s U.S. properties, according to a four-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday. Vladimir Voronchenko, a Russian citizen and U.S. permanent resident who fled to Russia last May, is accused of arranging for more than $4 million in payments to maintain four properties owned by Vekselberg in New York, Southampton and Florida. Prosecutors estimate the properties’ value at about $75 million. …

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