Technology

Dutch Security Agency Warns Against Chinese, Russian Technology

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

The Dutch security service advised the government Tuesday not to use technology from countries with active cyber-hacking campaigns against the Netherlands, such as China and Russia.

The recommendation came as the Dutch government is weighing options for a new 5G telecommunications network in the coming years and seeks to replace its domestic emergency services network, known as C2000.

The AIVD security agency flagged Chinese and Russian attempts at digital espionage as a major security risk.

“It is undesirable for the Netherlands to exchange sensitive information or for vital processes to depend on the hardware or software of companies from countries running active cyber programmes against Dutch interests,” the AIVD said in its annual report.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte has refused to rule out doing business with Chinese technology companies, even as key allies the United States and Australia restricted Huawei Technologies from accessing its next-generation mobile networks on national security grounds.

Washington has said that Huawei is at the beck and call of the Chinese state, warning that its network equipment may contain “back doors” that could open them up to cyberespionage.

Huawei says such concerns are unfounded.
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Science

Study: Prostate Cancer Death Rates Stabilizing

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Death rates from prostate cancer — the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men — have stabilized or declined in dozens of countries since the turn of the century, the American Cancer Society reported Tuesday.

In 33 of 44 countries surveyed, the incidence of prostate cancer had stabilized in the last five years for which data was available — and in seven countries, it was down, the report found.

Only four of the countries surveyed, including Bulgaria, saw an increased incidence of prostate cancer, it said.

“In the most recent five years of data examined, prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates are decreasing or stabilizing in most parts of the world,” the study’s author MaryBeth Freeman said.

Prostate cancer deaths were down in 14 countries surveyed and stable in 54 others. Only three countries experienced a rise in prostate cancer deaths, according to the study findings, which were presented Tuesday at a conference in Atlanta.

The United States had the biggest drop in prostate cancers, which Freeman attributed to a decline in the use of a controversial diagnostic test that identified too many non-dangerous tumors.

The incidence of prostate cancers rose in the U.S. during the 1980s and early 1990s when the PSA, or Prostate-Specific Antigen, blood test became widely available.

The test is imprecise, however, and yields too many false positives. It identifies higher than normal levels of PSA, a protein produced by the prostate, which could be a sign of cancer but is more often a symptom of other diseases.

Moreover, some prostate cancers are not aggressive and do not grow enough to pose a risk.

A false positive, on the other hand, can have harmful consequences for the patient: anxiety, complications linked to biopsies, or anti-cancer treatments.

In 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an expert panel that reviews the effectiveness of preventive clinical services, advised against use of the PSA test.

In 2018, it revised the recommendation to say that taking the test should be an “individual” decision for men 55 to 69. At 70 and after, it advised against its use.
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Science

After the Moon in 2024, NASA Wants to Reach Mars by 2033

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

NASA has made it clear they want astronauts back on the Moon in 2024, and now, they are zeroing in on the Red Planet – the US space agency confirmed that it wants humans to reach Mars by 2033.

Jim Bridenstine, NASA’s administrator, said Tuesday that in order to achieve that goal, other parts of the program – including a lunar landing – need to move forward more quickly.

“We want to achieve a Mars landing in 2033,” Bridenstine told lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill.

“We can move up the Mars landing by moving up the Moon landing. The Moon is the proving ground,” added the former Republican congressman, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.

NASA is racing to enact the plans of Trump, who dispatched Vice President Mike Pence to announce that the timetable for once again putting man on the Moon had been cut by four years to 2024.

The new date is politically significant: it would be the final year in Trump’s eventual second term at the White House.

Many experts and lawmakers are concerned that NASA cannot make the deadline, especially given the major delays in development of its new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, which is being built by aerospace giant Boeing.

Any mission to Mars would take at least two years, given the distance to be traveled. Getting there alone would take six months, as opposed to the three days needed to reach the Moon.

A round trip to Mars can only take place when the Red Planet is positioned on the same side of the Sun as Earth — that occurs about every 26 months, so the dates are 2031, 2033, and so on.

In 2017, a NASA budget bill set 2033 as the target date for the first manned mission to Mars, but NASA itself has talked about the “2030s” in its roadmap.

NASA wants to learn how to extract and use the tons of ice at the Moon’s south pole.

“Water ice represents air to breathe, it represents water to drink, it represents fuel,” Bridenstine said.

“The intent of course is to not just get humans to the surface of the Moon but prove that we can live and work on another world.”

Democratic lawmaker Eddie Bernice Johnson, the chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, asked Bridenstine to put a price tag on the new schedule.

The NASA chief said he would make his updated budget request by April 15.

 
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Technology

Scam Ads Promoting Fake Tax Breaks Prosper on Facebook

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Hundreds of ads on Facebook promised U.S. homeowners that they were eligible for huge state tax breaks if they installed new solar-energy panels. There was just one catch: None of it was true.

 

The scam ads used photos of nearly every U.S. governor — and sometimes President Donald Trump — to claim that with new, lucrative tax incentives, people might actually make money by installing solar technology on their homes. Facebook users only needed to enter their addresses, email, utility information and phone number to find out more.

 

Those incentives don’t exist.

 

While the ads didn’t aim to bilk people of money directly — and it wasn’t possible to buy solar panels through these ads — they led to websites that harvested personal information that could be used to expose respondents to future come-ons, both scammy and legitimate. It’s not clear that the data was actually used in such a manner.

 

Facebook apparently didn’t take action until notified by state-government officials who noticed the ads.

 

The fictitious notices reveal how easily scammers can pelt internet users with misinformation for months, undetected. They also raise further questions about whether big tech companies such as Facebook are capable of policing misleading ads, especially as the 2020 elections — and the prospect of another onslaught of online misinformation — loom.

 

“This is definitely concerning — definitely, it’s misinformation,” said Young Mie Kim, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who studied 5 million Facebook ads during the 2016 elections. “I keep telling people: We don’t have any basis to regulate such a thing.”

 

Experts say websites and apps need to be more transparent about the ads that run on their platforms.

 

Last year, Facebook launched a searchable database that provides details on political ads it runs, including who bought them and the age and gender of the audience. But it doesn’t make that information available for other ads. Twitter offers its own database of ads and promoted tweets. Google has an archive for political ads only.

 

The partial approaches allow misleading ads to fester. One problem is the fact that ads can be targeted so narrowly that journalists and watchdog groups often won’t see them.

 

“That allows people to do more dirty tricks,” said Ian Vanderwalker, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program.

 

In mid-March, some websites linked in the fake solar-energy ads disappeared. After complaints from governors’ offices, Facebook inactivated nearly all of the ads and several pages affiliated with them.

 

“These scammy ads have no place on Facebook,” company spokeswoman Devon Kearns said in a statement. “We removed these pages and disabled these ad accounts recently and will continue to take action.”

 

Facebook says it uses an automated process to review the images, text, targeting and position of ads posted to its site. In some cases, employees review the ads. Users can also give feedback if they believe the ads violate company policies.

 

Governors’ offices were alarmed to see photos of top politicians featured alongside claims such as “you can get paid to go solar.”  

 

Helen Kalla, a spokeswoman for Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, said she notified Facebook last month after staffers saw them.

 

Facebook took them down days later, although some continued to re-appear days after that complaint. Facebook also yanked ads featuring images of governors in Texas, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, South Carolina and other states. But the ads had already been running for some time.

 

After researching solar-panel options for his two-story home in Mount Tabor, New Jersey, 37-year-old Chris Fitzpatrick saw an ad claiming he might qualify for “free” solar panels because Gov. Phil Murphy planned to release “$100 million solar incentives.” He was skeptical because none of the solar companies he worked with mentioned such incentives, but worried others might not be.

 

“It’s very frustrating because it preys upon innocent people,” Fitzpatrick said.

 

The Associated Press found that some of these ads directed people to solar-energy websites that listed the same business address — a mailbox in Carlsbad, California — that had been used by a company once under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, the government’s consumer protection agency. In 2012, the FTC sued Jason Akatiff and his company — then called Coleadium, also known as Ads 4 Dough — for running fake news websites that marketed unfounded health benefits of colon cleanse and acai berry products, according to court records.

 

Akatiff settled the allegations without admitting guilt and agreed to a $1 million fine. Akatiff changed his company’s name to A4D Inc. in 2015, according to California business filings.

 

Akatiff did not respond to messages left with his California business.  

 

Though the FTC can investigate fake ads, sue to stop them and seek compensation for victims, thousands of ads targeting select groups run online daily, making it harder to catch suspect advertisers.  

 

Scam ads are popular in certain industries, such as insurance or solar power, where companies are looking for people they can target later for products and services, said Peter Marinello, vice president of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc.

 

The scammers sell the personal information they collect to other companies looking for potential customers, Marinello said. “That’s how this whole process plays out.”

 

 
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Economy

World Trade Forecasts Slashed Again Amid US-China Standoff

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

The World Trade Organization has cut its forecast for trade growth this year by more than a percentage point, to 2.6 percent, due to an economic slowdown and amid a trade conflict between the United States and China.

The downgrade — from 3.7 percent forecast issued in September — reflects how quickly the prospects for global business are fading as, among other things, the U.S. and China struggle to agree on how to lift tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars-worth of trade.

 

“With trade tensions running high, no one should be surprised by this outlook,” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said Tuesday.

 

Beyond the trade war, the WTO has cited weaker economic growth in North America, Europe and Asia — largely as the effect of fiscal stimulus by the Trump administration wears off. It noted a “phase-out” of monetary stimulus in Europe and China’s efforts to shift its economy away from its traditional reliance on manufacturing and investment toward services and consumption.

 

In 2018, trade grew by just 3 percent — far below the WTO’s forecast for 3.9 percent, which had itself been downgraded last year. And next year, the Geneva-based trade body expects only a small uptick in trade growth by volume next year, to 3 percent.

 

The WTO oversees international trade rules and settles disputes between countries. The Trump administration has also been critical of the WTO, accusing it of being “unfair” with the United States.

 

The U.S. has slowly squeezed the WTO by blocking appointments to its dispute settlement group, the Appellate Body, which could in December fall below the minimum number of members required.

 

Azevedo pointed to the “fundamental importance of the rules-based trading system,” saying that its weakening would “be an historic mistake with repercussions for jobs, growth and stability around the world.”

 
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Economy

NATO Celebrates 70th Anniversary, But Demands Rise For European Burden-Sharing

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

On April 4th, 2019, NATO members will mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty — part of a successful effort to contain Soviet expansionism and to cajole the war-torn nations of Western Europe to forsake ancient enmities and to forge solidarity. 

But for the transatlantic alliance to continue, Europe will have to make a greater contribution and share more of the burden, warn analysts.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO appeared uncertain about what part to play, but the return of Russian assertiveness under President Vladimir Putin has partly changed that — and the alliance’s supporters say NATO’s traditional role of collective security has never been more important.

Nonetheless, the U.S.-European alliance has been shaken by President Donald Trump’s episodic questioning of the very value of the transatlantic pact in periodically bruising encounters with European leaders and using tweets or brusque off-the-cuff remarks to do so. 

The resignation in December of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis highlighted strained ties between the Trump administration and European allies. 

In his resignation letter, the outgoing defense secretary said: “One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the U.S. remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.”

​Weeks earlier, Trump suggested he might cut U.S. force levels in Europe, if the European allies didn’t boost their military spending. “They kill us with NATO,” Trump said during a speech in Montana. “They kill us,” he repeated. 

Last July, during his visit to the annual summit of NATO allies in Brussels, President Trump expressed frustration with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over a planned Russia-to-Germany undersea gas pipeline, saying, “We’re supposed to protect you from Russia, but Germany is making pipeline deals with Russia. You tell me if that’s appropriate. Explain that.”

There have also been sharp disagreements over Iran and the U.S. decision to withdraw from a landmark nuclear arms pact with Russia in reaction to alleged cheating by Moscow. Washington has also expressed growing frustration with European partners over what it sees as a lax attitude to Chinese security threats to the West.

Such clashes have added to the uncertainty about the future of NATO, which is founded on a US security guarantee to Europe. 

Much of the media coverage on the current strains in the transatlantic relationship focus on President Trump’s characteristically confrontational style. European newspapers have highlighted the U.S. leader’s general distrust of multilateral organizations and his wanting a return of powerful, independent nation states that deal with each other bilaterally rather than via international organizations

But some analysts say the problems with the alliance predate the current American incumbent and at the heart of the strains has been a European reluctance to help to rebalance NATO. “The deeper reasons for the uncertainty go beyond him [Trump],” argues Hans Kundnani of Britain’s Chatham House. 

He says Europe has failed to uphold its part of a bargain. Even before Trump was elected there was a consensus in Washington that, as the United States increasingly focuses on Asia, Europe needs to take more responsibility for its own security. Presidents before Trump, including his immediate predecessor, Barack Obama, have also pressed the European members to increase their defense expenditure and to share more of a burden.

“It seems pretty clear that the only way the U.S. security guarantee to Europe might be made sustainable in the long term is for Europeans to make a greater contribution to their own security,” Kundnani argues.

And the U.S. President has his defenders when it comes to his table-thumping approach to NATO — both in the U.S. and Europe — who say Trump’s confrontational style may be the only way to shake up the alliance’s European members. 

Many in Britain’s military and intelligence establishments have been supportive of Trump’s complaints. A group of eight former British military and intelligence chiefs, who worry Britain could slip from being a “tier one” military power, argued in a newspaper advertisement that the U.S. leader’s criticism of the Europeans (and Canadians) over burden-sharing was valid.

They argued the threats the West faces demand increased military expenditure, even though Britain is one of only four European countries that already meets an agreed two percent of GDP in defense spending.

Combat readiness across the board among European militaries is woefully inadequate.

Last year, the German parliament’s military commissioner issued a scathing report on the readiness of Germany’s armed forces, noting that only a fraction of crucial weapons systems was operational. At the end of 2017, six out of six of the navy’s submarines were out of commission and none of the air force’s 14 large transport planes were available for deployment due to repairs. More than 20,000 officer and non-commissioned officer positions were unfilled. Many fighter jets, tanks and ships are outdated or in disrepair, the commissioner noted.

The report urged the government to pursue reforms “with greater urgency” and to increase defense spending.

In the face of U.S. complaints, a division has emerged among European policymakers — between those who argue they must take into greater account U.S. interests in a bid to try to improve strained transatlantic relations and those officials and leaders who want to adopt a more aggressive “Europe First” strategy to counter Trump’s “America First” approach.

French President Emmanuel Macron has advocated ambitiously a Euro-army and talks of Europe needing to free itself from military dependence on America. But both Britain and Germany are deeply skeptical of Macron’s idea for such an army. Skeptics say such an army could never make up for American military might and its importance for European defense. Others point out that it would end up with European governments having to increase their spending dramatically.

Central European states much closer to Russia place greater faith in an American security guarantee than one from their Western neighbors — for good historical reasons, they say. And despite Trump’s sharp criticism of NATO’s European members, they note, Washington remains committed to expanding a military presence in the Black Sea, the Baltic states and Poland and supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

On Monday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced an agreement to invest $260 million to fund a military storage site in central Poland in support of U.S. forces that operate in the region. “This will fund storage and maintenance of pre-positioned military equipment — which will speed up reinforcement for Europe,” Stoltenberg said during a news conference at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters.
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Economy

NATO Marking 70th Anniversary in Washington Amid Transatlantic Tensions

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

NATO foreign ministers are gathering in Washington, D.C. this week to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. President Donald Trump has been critical of the alliance, blasting other members for under-investing on defense and relying too heavily on the United States. Observers will be watching closely to see how the alliance is weathering internal storms on this anniversary.

Trump, who hosts NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for talks at the White House on Tuesday, made his views on NATO clear during the 2016 presidential campaign, shocking many on both sides of the Atlantic by calling the alliance “obsolete.”

He cited what he said was a missing focus on terrorism, while repeatedly claiming the United States was shouldering too much of the cost.

Most U.S. foreign policy experts say NATO is one of the most successful military alliances in history and is far from obsolete.

“It has showcased an ability to adapt to change in the past, from dealing with a resurgent Russia, to managing crisis in south of NATO’s flank, to as well dealing with issues like cyber, so NATO is adapting and allies are spending more on defense,” Mark Simakovsky of the Atlantic Council told VOA.

Military spending has been a core issue for Trump, who has frequently pressured European allies to increase their defense expenditures.

“Everyone’s agreed to substantially up their commitment, they are going to up it at levels they have never thought of before,” Trump told reporters during a NATO summit last year.

WATCH: NATO Anniversary

NATO guidelines say member states should spend at least two percent of their gross domestic product on the military each year. But only seven of the 29 member states reached that level in 2018. Some experts think the two percent rule is very important.

“You’re not giving the money to somebody else, you’re not putting it into a NATO budget somewhere, you’re spending it on yourselves,” said McCain Institute Director Kurt Volker, who formerly served as U.S. ambassador to NATO. “But it is a demonstration of your commitment to your own security, which then gives NATO the confidence that this is a country that we can help defend as well, because they are committed to defense of their own territory.”

Others agree that defense spending is important, but say the alliance is fundamentally about the members’ ability to trust each other, and Trump has damaged that trust.

“When an American president questions the value of the alliance, our enemies in Moscow and Beijing are now questioning whether or not NATO would come to the defense of some smaller NATO nations that the president has criticized as maybe not worthy of NATO’s defense,” said Simakovsky. “But I don’t think at this summit the administration is going to be announcing any departure of the United States.”

Simakovsky said the partners agreed to downgrade the Washington meeting to a foreign minister’s meeting to avert the risk of verbal attacks from Trump.
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Science

Meatless Burgers Go Mainstream

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Vegetarian patties have long been available to Americans seeking healthier alternatives to hamburgers. Mainstream fast food chains also have been looking for healthier alternatives that would not compromise on flavor. Burger King teamed with California-based Impossible Foods to create a meatless hamburger that would taste as good as its world famous Whopper. The new meatless option was rolled out in 59 Burger King restaurants in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Technology

Facebook, Rights Groups Hit Out at Singapore’s Fake News Bill

By on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Singapore submitted wide-ranging fake news legislation in parliament on Monday, stoking fears from internet firms and human rights groups that it may give the government too much power and hinder freedom of speech.

The law would require social media sites like Facebook to carry warnings on posts the government deems false and remove comments against “public interest.”

The move came two days after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said governments should play a more active role in regulating the online platform.

But Simon Milner, who works on Facebook’s public policy in Asia, said after the law was tabled, the firm was “concerned with aspects of the law that grant broad powers to the Singapore executive branch to compel us to remove content they deem to be false and proactively push a government notification to users.”

“As the most far-reaching legislation of its kind to date, this level of overreach poses significant risks to freedom of expression and speech, and could have severe ramifications both in Singapore and around the world,” said Jeff Paine, managing director of the Asia Internet Coalition, an industry association of internet and technology companies in the region.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Singapore’s Law Minister K. Shanmugam said the new legislation would not hinder free speech.

“This legislation deals with false statements of facts. It doesn’t deal with opinions, it doesn’t deal with viewpoints. You can have whatever viewpoints however reasonable or unreasonable,” he said.

Tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google all have their Asia headquarters in the city-state, a low-tax finance hub seen as a island of stability in the middle of the fast-growing but often-turbulent Southeast Asia region.

“Malicious actors”

Singapore, which has been run by the same political party since independence from Britain more than 50 years ago, says it is vulnerable to fake news because of its position as a global financial hub, its mixed ethnic and religious population and widespread internet access.

It is ranked 151 among 180 countries rated in the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, a non-government group that promotes freedom of information, below the likes of Russia and Myanmar.

The new bill proposes that the government get online platforms to publish warnings or “corrections” alongside posts carrying false information, without removing them.

This would be the “primary response” to counter falsehoods online, the Law Ministry said.

“That way, in a sense, people can read whatever they want and make up their minds. That is our preference,” Law Minister K. Shanmugam told reporters on Monday.

Under the proposals, which must be approved by parliament, criminal sanctions including hefty fines and jail terms will be imposed if the falsehoods are spread by “malicious actors” who “undermine society”, the ministry said, without elaborating.

It added that it would cut off an online site’s “ability to profit”, without shutting it down, if the site had published three falsehoods that were “against the public interest” over the previous six months.

It did not say how it would block a site’s profit streams.

The bill came amid talk of a possible general election this year. Law Minister Shanmugam declined to comment when asked if the new legislation was related to a vote.

“This draft law will be a disaster for human rights, particularly freedom of expression and media freedom,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director, Asia division, at Human Rights Watch.

“The definitions in the law are broad and poorly defined, leaving maximum regulatory discretion to the government officers skewed to view as “misleading” or “false” the sorts of news that challenge Singapore’s preferred political narratives.”
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Science

New York City’s Congestion Pricing Plan a First for US

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

New York will become the first U.S. city to impose congestion pricing, seen as a key weapon against global warming, following lawmakers’ approval on Monday of a state budget to fund the plan.

Drivers will have to pay to drive in busy midtown Manhattan, one of the city’s five boroughs, as part of an effort to reduce the number of cars and invest in public transit such as subways, officials said.

Fewer cars means lower emission of carbon dioxide, the leading gas that causes global warming, experts say.

Benefits are many

Fewer cars also means a better traffic flow, which creates lower emissions than cars idling, they say.

“You have to get fewer cars driving into Manhattan,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday.

“The traffic is so bad. I can’t tell you how many days myself, I just get out of the car and walk, because it’s so much faster.”

The plan is part of the state’s $175 billion budget that also includes a ban on disposable, single-use plastic bags.

New York becomes the first major U.S. city to follow the lead of London, which began levying a congestion charge on vehicles driving into the city center in 2003, and a handful of other international locations including Stockholm and Singapore.

The system has succeeded in reducing air pollution and traffic in London, which currently charges drivers £11.50 ($15.24) per day during weekday business hours.

Plan would start in  2021

After introduction of the congestion charge, bus ridership in central London increased by 37 percent in the first year, and traffic congestion dropped by about a quarter, research found.

Beginning in 2021, New York drivers will likely be charged more than $10 (7.70 British pounds) to travel below 60th Street in Manhattan, essentially south of Central Park in an area that includes Broadway theaters, Wall Street banks and high-end shopping.

The precise amount of the fees will be decided later as will be the possibility of exemptions for taxis, ride-sharing drivers and other issues, officials say.

While an earlier campaign for congestion effort failed more than a decade ago under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, this effort succeeded in part due to the promise of raising badly needed funds for the deteriorating subway system, experts said.
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Science

Rockefeller Foundation Moves Beyond Cities in Broader Resilience Push

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

The Rockefeller Foundation is changing the focus of its funding of projects to strengthen societies against modern pressures such as climate change, shifting away from preparing cities to a broader global view of the issue, its president said Monday.

The change means it will stop financial backing of the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) network — about $165 million over five years — that enabled more than 80 cities to hire chief resilience officers and develop action plans, Rajiv Shah told Reuters in an interview.

The program has succeeded in pushing cities to think about how to cope with risks such as extreme weather and pollution, he said.

“That work has been transformational in helping urban areas really address the challenges that are only going to get more intense as we go forward in time,” Shah said.

Efforts supported by 100RC have helped Jakarta manage waste, protected Bangkok riverside communities from flooding and turned Parisian schoolyards into cool oases during heat waves, he said.

The U.S.-based philanthropic foundation will provide a further $12 million this year to help the network transform into an independent organization.

The foundation also plans to keep working with U.S. city mayors to find ways to boost jobs and economic opportunities while adapting to climate change, Shah said.

“These are exceptional leaders who are taking forward and institutionalizing these efforts, with our continued support,” he said.

On Monday, 86 staff in 100RC’s four offices — New York, London, Singapore and Mexico City — were told their jobs would finish on July 31.

The end of support by the Rockefeller Foundation contrasts with a 2017 speech by its president, in which he referred to “our strong and continued commitment” to the 100RC initiative “for many, many years to come.”

In December, an independent evaluation of 100RC’s work by the Urban Institute, a U.S.-based policy research group, gave a broadly positive account of progress.

It said 100RC cities were adopting holistic planning practices widely and “de-siloing” operations to tackle social, economic and physical challenges.

It also found 100RC was among the first global initiatives to use a consistent set of tools, assistance and resources across diverse cities “for which no alternative exists.”

An open letter by 100RC President Michael Berkowitz, issued Monday, said the organization would use a July summit in Rotterdam to chart a path forward for the urban resilience movement.

“Our work will continue in new ways and we look forward to being part of this important movement for years to come,” he wrote.

Disaster recovery

On Monday, The Rockefeller Foundation also announced a $30 million grant to the Washington, D.C.-based Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience at the Atlantic Council.

The money will support its work helping individuals, cities and communities across the globe become better able to weather more severe, growing risks such as flood, drought, conflict and food insecurity in “an uncertain, rapidly changing world.”

The council said it would look at policy frameworks, advancement of finance and risk mechanisms, and use of technology and communications tools and platforms.

Shah said the Atlantic Council had high-level relationships in political and financial circles, allowing it to team up with banks, insurance firms and others on resilience-building initiatives.

In the past decade, The Rockefeller Foundation has put nearly $500 million into climate change and resilience initiatives, ranging from 100RC to village-level renewable energy projects in India and a U.S. forest conservation effort.

It sees value in investments that “both include and go beyond the urban planning support,” and is “particularly enthusiastic about our work on post-disaster recovery,” Shah said.

Rockefeller has made strides in that area, he added, convening governments, businesses and civil society leaders to report on how Puerto Rico could rebuild after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

That included innovative financing for solar panels to be installed on community centers and hospitals to keep running in future storms.

The foundation is now exploring ways to help southern Africa recover after Cyclone Idai, aiming to help local producers and businesses restore food supplies.

It will also set up a new office to build climate resilience into key areas of its work, including food security, health care and clean power.

In 2017 and 2018, the Reuters received funding from The Rockefeller Foundation to report on efforts to build resilience to shocks and stresses worldwide.
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Technology

Facebook Removes Accounts Linked to Indian Political Parties, Pakistan’s Military

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

Anjana Pasricha contributed to this report.

ISLAMABAD – Facebook has removed hundreds of accounts and pages linked to Indian political parties or the Pakistani military for what the company described as “coordinated inauthentic behavior or spam.” The Facebook or Instagram accounts, pages or groups were detected through internal investigations into account activity in the region before upcoming elections in India.

“These Pages and accounts were engaging in behaviors that expressly violate our policies. This included using fake accounts or multiple accounts with the same names; impersonating someone else; posting links to malware; and posting massive amounts of content across a network of Groups and Pages in order to drive traffic to websites they are affiliated with in order to make money,” Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said in a statement.

The social media giant has become much more conscious of user activity after a scandal in which data mining firm Cambridge Analytica used information from tens of millions of Facebook users to manipulate political campaigns in multiple countries, including the United States.

Indian political parties are relying heavily on social media to push forward their agenda in a tough general election that begins April 11, and the issue of fake news remains a major concern.

​Facebook says 687 pages and accounts that were detected and suspended by its automated system were linked to India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, or INC. The Facebook statement also said the company removed 15 pages, groups and accounts tied to officials associated with Indian IT firm Silver Touch. The information technology firm is linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. One Silver Touch Facebook page was followed by 2.6 million accounts, compared to 206,000 followers of the INC-linked pages.

The INC tweeted that no official pages run by the party had been taken down. “Additionally, all pages run by our verified volunteers are also unaffected,” it said.

A party official who did not want to be named told VOA that Facebook has not shared further information with the party about the pages in question or provided a list of them.

Pratik Sinha, who runs fact-checking website AltNews.in, said Facebook’s announcement gives a “lopsided” view that only the opposition INC has been engaged in pushing spam. Sinha pointed out that Silver Touch, whose accounts were taken down, had spent much more on advertising on the social media platform compared to the pages created by the INC’s IT cell.

Pakistan’s military

In neighboring Pakistan, 103 pages or accounts linked to the media cell of that country’s military have been removed.

“Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found that it was linked to employees of the ISPR (Inter-Services Public Relations) of the Pakistani military,” the Facebook statement said.

These individuals, according to the statement, were operating “military fan Pages; general Pakistani interest Pages; Kashmir community Pages; and hobby and news Pages” with posts on politics and the military.

The ISPR declined to comment for this story.

Journalists or rights activists in Pakistan often complain of online trolling or harassment from fake accounts.

Journalist Gharidah Farooqi said she regularly faces threats and harassment online from accounts that appear to be military fan pages. She has complained to the military’s media wing, but been told the institution has nothing to do with the issue.

Another journalist, Asma Shirazi, told VOA she has faced an “organized and institutionalized” campaign against her online for her coverage of opposition leaders, particularly ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shirazi added that she has been accused of being “anti-Pakistan” and taking bribes from Sharif’s (Pakistan Muslim League) party.

Last week, several Facebook accounts posted pictures and personal details — such as home address and contact details — of rights activist Marvi Sirmed and incited people to kill her after falsely accusing her of acting against Islam and promoting a “free sex, incestuous society.”

Sirmed is a regular critic of the military, as well as the current administration of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Facebook has already taken down at least one account, but Sirmed said several others remain.  Sirmed says she has complained to local authorities and is awaiting a response.
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Technology

Facebook Reveals How it Ranks Items in The News Feed

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

Facebook is lifting the lid on the algorithm that decides which posts appear in its news feed, as part of a drive to be more transparent and offer greater control to users.

The feature “Why am I seeing this post?”, being rolled out from Monday, offers some insight into the tens of thousands of inputs used by the social network to rank stories, photos and video in the news feed, the foundation of the platform.

“The basic thing that this tool does is let people see why they are seeing a particular post in their news feed, and it helps them access the actions they might want to take if they want to change that,” Facebook’s Head of News Feed John Hegeman told reporters on Monday.

After a series of privacy scandals, Facebook needs to regain users’ trust as it prepares to roll out a single messaging service combining Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram that could make it even more central to users’ communications.

The new news feed feature will show users the data that connect them to a particular type of post, Hegeman said, for example that they are friends with the poster and they’ve liked their posts more than others, they’ve frequently commented on that type of post before, or that the post is popular with users with the same interests.

It will detail some of the interactions that lead the algorithm to reach its conclusion, he said, although it will not show all of the thousands of inputs that influence the decision.

“We’ve tried to really focus on the signals that are most important and play the biggest role in what causes people to see a post or not,” Hegeman said.

“We don’t think this is going to solve everything on the theme of transparency but we think this is an important step.”

Facebook developed the new tool with research groups in New York, Denver, Paris and Berlin, he said, and as a result of feedback Facebook has made it easy for users to access tools to control what is in the news feed themselves.

Facebook is also updating its “Why Am I Seeing this Ad?” feature launched a few years ago with additional details, Hegeman said, such as explaining how ads work that target customers using email lists.

The company shifted its strategy for its centerpiece news feed in early 2018 when it decided to prioritize posts from family and friends and downgrade non-advertising content from publishers and brands.

 
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Technology

TSA’s Social Media Highlight Weird Stuff in Travelers’ Bags

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

David Johnston stands over a table full of peculiar items confiscated at Dulles International Airport: a glittery clutch with brass knuckles as a clasp. A perfume bottle shaped like a grenade. A rusted circular saw blade. A pocket-sized pitchfork.

None of those is quite right. Then Johnston sees it: a guitar shaped like a semi-automatic rifle. Bingo. It will do nicely for the Transportation Security Administration’s social media accounts.

Johnston, TSA’s social media director, is following in the footsteps of Curtis “Bob” Burns, who created unlikely internet buzz for the not-always-beloved agency by showcasing the weirdest stuff travelers pack in their carry-ons. He died suddenly in October at age 48.

Burns’ work created a model for other federal agencies. The quirky photos combined with a hefty dose of dad humor helped lure in more than a million followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, who would then see important messages about the do’s and don’ts of airline travel.

“How are we going to replace Bob? The reality is we can’t,” said Johnston. “We had a unique situation with him, but we can still be entertaining and help people as we find our way forward without him.”

On the blog, Burns shared a weekly count of firearms that TSA officers found at checkpoints nationwide. He did a summary of knives and all matter of other bizarre and sometimes scary items that travelers had stuffed into their bags, pockets, purses or briefcases.

In one Instagram post, someone tried to bring on a glove with razors for fingers and Burns (naturally) made a “Nightmare on Elm Street” joke.

“It’s safe to sleep on Elm Street again. Freddy lost his glove at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).”

The agency’s Instagram account won three Webby awards last year, including the People’s Voice Award for weird social content marketing. In his acceptance speech, Burns eyed the award, shook it and declared: “This Webby is carry-on approved!”

Johnston, who worked with Burns for about three years, and has been in government jobs for nearly a decade, has tried to keep it up all on his own, but it’s been tough.

Johnston sent out a Valentine’s Day post that showed off a throwing star, ax and double-edged dagger confiscated from a passenger’s carry-on bag. (“Safe travels, you romantic fool!”) And it was national puppy day recently, so that was an excuse for a photo of Cole, a big-eyed TSA explosives detection dog.

TSA is growing its social media staff — bringing in three more workers to expand its social media presence. The staff will continue to use fodder sent in by officers around the country, who seize all manner of unusual items people try to bring onboard. But it’s hard to find people who have both the government know-how and a sense of humor that resonates.

Burns’ humor

Johnston said the thing that made Burns’ posts so special was Burns himself.

“When you look at his posts, you’re seeing a window into his soul,” he said. “It really was from his heart. He was a fun, happy guy.”

Burns’ sister-in-law, Candy Creech, said he had a dry sense of humor and a hefty dose of patriotism: He had served in the Gulf War. Burns had worked in airports before taking over social media and believed there was public negativity around TSA. He wanted to change that.

“And I think he felt he could change that by communicating with people in a way that wasn’t scolding,” she said. “He was one of a kind.” 

During a TSA Facebook live, “Ask Me Anything” episode last year, Burns said the success of the account was partly due to the shock value.

“People don’t come to a government Instagram account and expert to see humor,” Burns said. “And they also don’t expect to see these crazy things that people are trying to bring on a plane.”

‘They Brought What?’

At Dulles, in the prohibited items section, Johnston sees a few possibilities for TSA’s YouTube series called “They Brought What?” including a large snow globe with big a white fairy imprisoned in some kind of liquid (It’s creepy and it has liquid, so they can highlight the liquid restrictions.) 

He passes over the four pairs of nunchucks (Yawn — you can’t believe how many people bring those) and a handful of pocket knives. He stops at a large bullet from Afghanistan that has been altered to be a cigarette lighter and pen.

“The things people think of,” he said. Turning more serious for a moment, Johnston notes the importance of showing off these items, especially to people who aren’t well-traveled.

“The bottom line is our social media pages makes travelers better informed, so they have a better experience and it frees up our officers to do what they need to do — look for the bad actors,” he said.
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Economy

Kellogg Selling Keebler and Other Brands for $1.3 Billion

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

Kellogg is selling its iconic Keebler cookie brand and other sweet snacks businesses to Ferrero for $1.3 billion.

The Battle Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg Co. says the brands in the deal generated sales of $900 million and profits of $75 million last year. Kellogg is also selling its Mother’s and Famous Amos cookie brands, as well as its fruit-flavored snack, pie crust and ice cream cone businesses.

Kellogg acquired Keebler Foods, which was founded in 1853, in 2001 for $3.86 billion.

It expects to use sale proceeds to pay down debt.

Ferrero, an Italian confectionary company best known for its Nutella hazelnut cream, said Monday it will also acquire six U.S. manufacturing plants from Kellogg in the deal.

Kellogg is among many U.S. food companies that have sold off brands in recent years to adapt to a consumer shift toward more fresh, less processed snacks and foods.

The sale is expected to close by the end of July.
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Economy

South Dakota Farmers to Plant More Corn, Less Soybeans

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

South Dakota farmers this spring are expected to plant more corn than they did last year but less soybeans.

The Agriculture Department projects South Dakota’s corn crop at 6 million acres, up 13 percent from 2018. The soybean crop is forecast at 5.2 million acres, down 8 percent.

Other crops with expected increases are oil sunflowers, barley and dry peas.

Other crops with projected decreases are spring wheat, hay, oats and sorghum.
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Science

China: Fentanyl-Related Drugs to be Added to Controlled Substances List

By on Monday, April 1, 2019

China said Monday it is adding all fentanyl-related compounds to its list of controlled substances, beginning May 1. 

U.S. officials have long campaigned for the move. Fentanyl, and compounds that mimic its effects, are blamed for tens of thousands of opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. each year. 

“The U.S. is concerned about all variants (of fentanyl) and it’s all been resolved,” Liu Yuejin, the deputy director of China’s National Drug Commission said Monday. 

U.S. President Donald Trump said last year, if China placed controls on fentanyl, the move would be a “game changer.” 
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Economy

Bait Crisis Could Take the Steam Out of Lobster This Summer

By on Sunday, March 31, 2019

The boom times for the U.S. lobster industry are imperiled this year because of a shortage of a little fish that has been luring the crustaceans into traps for hundreds of years.

Members of the lobster business fear a looming bait crisis could disrupt the industry during a time when lobsters are as plentiful, valuable and in demand as ever. America’s lobster catch has climbed this decade, especially in Maine, but the fishery is dependent on herring — a schooling fish other fishermen seek in the Atlantic Ocean.

Federal regulators are imposing a steep cut in the herring fishery this year, and some areas of the East Coast are already restricted to fishing, months before the lobster season gets rolling. East Coast herring fishermen brought more than 200 million pounds of the fish to docks as recently as 2014, but this year’s catch will be limited to less than a fifth of that total.

The cut is leaving lobstermen, who have baited traps with herring for generations in Maine, scrambling for new bait sources and concerned about their ability to get lobster to customers who have come to expect easy availability in recent years.

“If you don’t have bait, you’re not going to fish. If the price of bait goes up, you’re not going to fish,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “We have to take the big picture, and make sure our communities continue to have viable fisheries.”

The cut in the herring quota stems from a scientific assessment of the fish’s population last year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The assessment found a below-average number of young herring are surviving in the ocean.

The loss of herring has sounded alarms among scientists and conservationists, because the fish also serve a critical role in the ocean food chain and they’re valuable as food for humans.

It’s unclear exactly what factors are causing young herring to fail to survive to maturity, said Jonathan Deroba, lead assessment scientist for herring with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. He said it’s “premature to predict the sky is falling,” though he added the herring population could be suffering from multiple stresses at once.

“We’d be foolish not to look at climate change. The abundance of haddock, which are egg predators. And fishing activity on Georges Bank disrupting herring,” Deroba said. Georges Bank is a key fishing area off New England.

Fishermen bring herring to shore mostly in Maine and Massachusetts, which are also the biggest lobster fishing states. Lobstermen also load traps with other kinds of bait, such as menhaden, and some herring is available in freezers, but fishermen said they’re concerned there won’t be enough to go around.

The New England Fishery Management Council is also considering herring catch quota for 2020 and 2021 later this year, and fishermen said they’re concerned the cuts could be maintained for those years. The loss of herring is also a heavy blow to the fishermen who harvest the species, said Jeff Kaelin, who works in government relations for Lund’s Fisheries, a herring harvester based in Cape May, New Jersey.

“It’s going to be tough on everyone,” Kaelin said, not just the people who catch the herring, but also “the lobstermen who depend on it for historic bait supply.”

The U.S. lobster fishery set an all-time record for value at docks in 2016, when the catch was worth more than $670 million. That was also the year the herring catch fell to its lowest point since 2002, though it was still more than 138 million pounds.

Lobsterman Jeffrey Peterson, who fishes out of the island town of Vinalhaven, Maine, said he’s sure he’ll be able to load his traps with bait this summer. He’s just concerned about how expensive it’ll be to do so.

“It’ll be around,” he said. “It’s just how much they gouge you for it.”
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Science

Cameroon NGO Struggles to Protect Waters from Invasive Plants

By on Sunday, March 31, 2019

The spread of invasive water hyacinths in and around Cameroon’s port city of Douala is causing problems for residents. The hyacinths’ stubborn growth hampers shipping, reduces fish catches, blocks streams and invades houses. But local NGOs are working to clean them up and artists are finding new uses for the hyacinths. Moki Edwin Kindzeka narrates this report by Anne Mireille Nzouankeu from Cameroon’s port city of Douala.
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Science

Some Conservative States Easing Access to Birth Control

By on Sunday, March 31, 2019

Several Republican-led state legislatures are advocating for women to gain over-the-counter access to birth control in what they say is an effort to reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions.

State legislatures in Arkansas and Iowa, for example, are working on legislation that would allow women older than 18 the ability to receive birth control from a pharmacist rather than going first to a doctor for a prescription. The measures are seeing bipartisanship support in those states and come after similar laws have passed in nearly a dozen other states.

​Arkansas legislation

Arkansas state Representative Aaron Pilkington, a Republican, said he started working on the bill after seeing “about a 15 percent decrease of teen births” after other states passed similar legislation. Arkansas consistently has one of the highest birth rates among teenagers in the country.

Pilkington said support for the bill “in many ways, it’s very generational. … I find that a lot of younger people and women are really in favor of this, especially mothers.”

According to the Oral Contraceptive (OCs) Over the Counter (OTC) Working Group, a reproductive rights group, more than 100 countries, including Russia, much of South America and countries in Africa, allow access to birth control without a prescription. 

Women are required to get a doctor’s prescription to obtain and renew birth control in most of the U.S., much of Europe, Canada and Australia, according to the reproductive rights group.

Pilkington, who identifies as a “pro-life legislator,” said he brought the bill forward partly as an effort to counter unwanted pregnancies and abortions. The bill would require a doctor’s visit about every two years to renew the prescription.

Rural residents

Arkansas has a population of about 3 million people, a third of whom live in rural areas. Pilkington said the bill would likely benefit women who reside in rural areas or those who have moved to new cities and aren’t under a doctor’s care yet.

“A lot of times when they’re on the pill and they run out, they’ve gotta get a doctor’s appointment, and the doctor says, ‘I can’t see you for two months,’” he said. “Some people have to drive an hour and a half to see their PCP (primary care physician) or OB-GYN (obstetrician-gynecologist), so this makes a lot of sense.”

What Pilkington is proposing is not new. In 2012, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endorsed the idea of making birth control available without a prescription. Today, at least 11 other states have passed legislation allowing for patients to go directly to the pharmacist, with some caveats.

In October, ahead of a tight midterm race, Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds raised a few eyebrows when she announced she would prioritize over-the-counter access to birth control in her state. Like Pilkington, she cited countering abortion as a main driver behind the proposed legislation. The bill closely models much of the language used in another Republican-sponsored bill In Utah that passed last year with unanimous support.

The planned Iowa legislation comes after the Republican-led state Legislature passed a bill in 2017 that rejected $3 million in federal funds for family-planning centers like Planned Parenthood.

The loss of federal funds forced Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides health care and contraception for women, to close four of its 12 clinics in the state.

Since then, Jamie Burch Elliott, public affairs manager of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Iowa, said that anecdotal evidence shows that sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies have gone up.

“With family planning, it takes time to see the impacts, so there are long-term studies going on to really study the impact of this,” said Burch Elliott. “Right away, we saw STI (sexually transmitted infections) and STD (sexually transmitted diseases) rates go up, particularly chlamydia and gonorrhea. As far as unintended pregnancy rates, we are hearing that they are rising, although the data is not out yet.”

Pro-life pushback

So far the Iowa legislation has received some pushback, mostly from a few pro-life groups.

The Iowa Right to Life organization has remained neutral on the issue of birth control, but the Iowa Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the bishops of Iowa, and Iowans for LIFE, a nonprofit anti-abortion organization, have come out against the bill, citing concerns that birth control should not be administered without a visit to a physician.

Maggie DeWitte, executive director of Iowans for LIFE, also pointed out that oral contraception can be an “abortifacient [that] sometimes cause abortions,” challenging Reynolds’ motivation for introducing the bill.

On the other hand, Iowa family-planning organizations and Democratic legislators are mostly on board.

“Policywise, I think this is really good,” said Heather Matson, a state representative of a district located just outside the state capital, Des Moines. She appreciated that insurance will still cover birth control, but took issue with the age restriction, saying she would like to see an option for people younger than 18. “Is it exactly the bill that I would have written, if given the opportunity? Not exactly.”

While Matson represents one of the fastest-growing districts in the country, she pointed to the number of “health care deserts” in rural Iowa, where a shortage of OB-GYNs is leading to the closure of some maternity wards.

Like Planned Parenthood’s Burch Elliott, Matson agreed that this bill would be just one step in providing more access to birth control for women in rural parts of the state.

“Even before Planned Parenthood was defunded, there wasn’t great access to birth control in Iowa to begin with,” Burch Elliott said. “Having said that, [this bill] is not a solution. Pharmacists are never going to be a replacement for Planned Parenthood, for example, where you’ll get STI and STD screenings, and any other cancer screenings or other preventive care that you might need.”

Regardless of whether the bills pass in Des Moines or Little Rock, Arkansas Representative Pilkington expects other states to follow suit.

“As the times have changed and you have a lot of conservative states like Tennessee, Arkansas, Utah (pass this legislation), I think it makes it way less of a partisan issue” and more of a good governance issue, he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see other states kind of pushing this as well. Especially when they see the success that other states are having with this.”
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Science

Neonatal Cuddlers Help Babies Get a Good Start

By on Sunday, March 31, 2019

The environment in a neonatal intensive care unit can be overwhelming, as staff care for infants who are ill or were born premature. Many exhausted parents and loved ones can’t be with their newborns around the clock, but at one Long Beach, Calif., hospital, trained volunteers are stepping in to help. Known as NICU cuddlers, they give infants the human touch that is so vital to every baby. For VOA, Angelina Bagdasaryan visited the hospital and has this story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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Economy

World Turns Off Lights for Earth Hour 

By on Saturday, March 30, 2019

The Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House, the Brandenburg Gate, the Acropolis and many more iconic landmarks went dark at 8:30 p.m. local time, Saturday night, for Earth Hour, an annual call for local action on climate change.

Earth Hour is the brain child of the World Wildlife Fund.

“By going dark for Earth Hour, we can show steadfast commitment to protecting our families, our communities and our planet from the dangerous effects of a warming world,” said Lou Leonard, WWF senior vice president, climate and energy. “The rising demand for energy, food and water means this problem is only going to worsen, unless we act now.”

Individuals and companies around the world participated in the hour-long demonstration to show their support for the fight against climate change and the conservation of the natural world.

WWF said Earth’s “rich biodiversity, the vast web of life that connects the health of oceans, rivers and forests to the prosperity of communities and nations, is threatened.”

The fund also reports that wildlife populations monitored by WWF “have experienced an average decline of 60 percent in less than a single person’s lifetime, and many unique and precious species are at risk of vanishing forever.”

“We have to ask ourselves what we’re willing to do after the lights come back on,” Leonard said. “If we embrace bold solutions, we still have time to stabilize the climate and safeguard our communities and the diverse wildlife, ecosystems and natural resources that sustain us all.”

“We are the first generation to know we are destroying the world,” WWF said. “And we could be the last that can do anything about it.”
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