European Union leaders are to meet Thursday for a summit dominated by migration, the economy and, not surprisingly, Ukraine. Reports suggest Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — who arrived in London on Wednesday — may attend the Brussels summit in person. 

The EU’s two-day summit comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and days after top EU officials held a summit with Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Besides Western Europe, Ukraine’s leader is known to have left his homeland only once since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; that trip was to Washington in December, where he met with United States President Joe Biden and addressed the U.S. Congress.

Zelenskyy wants several things from the Europeans, including to speed up Ukraine’s bid to join the EU, more weapons ahead of an expected Russian offensive, and more sanctions against Moscow.

Brussels is unlikely to fast-track Kyiv’s membership application. But in Kyiv last week, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen praised Zelenskyy’s commitment to join the bloc.

“I must say I am deeply impressed, and I want to commend you for the preciseness, the quality and the speed at which you deliver,” she said. “This is phenomenal.”

Europeans already have committed billions of dollars in defense and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Brussels is also expected to unveil a 10th sanctions package against Moscow later this month.

zeleMigration is also set to dominate the summit amid a sharp uptick in economic migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Europe this past year. That’s on top of the millions of Ukrainian war refugees.

Today, some EU member states are calling for tougher policies — and fences — against what they call “irregular” migration. Using EU funds for border fences is especially divisive.

“I think migration and asylum policy remains a very tricky issue within the EU — with the EU witnessing its biggest migration and asylum crisis since World War II,” said Pauline Veron, a policy advisor at the European Centre for Development Policy Management, a Netherlands-based think-tank.

Veron said that, even as many Europeans continue welcoming Ukrainian refugees, they are feeling rising angst about migration from Africa and elsewhere.
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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 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been dealing with the disaster.

Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor and its aftershocks killed at least 11,200 people in southeastern Turkey and parts of Syria.

Turkish social media have been filled with posts by people complaining about a lack of search and rescue efforts in their provinces.

The Twitter outage came as Erdogan toured two of the hardest-hit Turkish provinces.

Turkish officials released no immediate statements about the service disruption.

But they had issued repeated warnings about spreading misinformation in advance of a crucial May 14 election in which Erdogan will try to extend his two-decade rule.
…

…

Poland on Wednesday condemned as unfair the eight-year jail sentence handed to a Polish-Belarusian journalist who had reported critically on the Belarusian regime.

“An inhumane verdict of the Belarusian regime. It is yet another act of persecuting Polish people in Belarus,” Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a tweet.

Andrzej Poczobut, 49 was sentenced in the western city of Grodno, on the Polish border, where he was based.

He was found guilty of taking part in “actions harming national security” and “inciting hatred.”

“We will do everything to help the Polish journalist,” Morawiecki added.

“We condemn the unfair verdict delivered by a court of an authoritarian country,” a Polish foreign ministry spokesman tweeted, adding Poland will continue to “stand behind” Poczobut.

Poczobut is a correspondent for Poland’s top daily Gazeta Wyborcza and an active member of Belarus’s Polish diaspora.

“A bandit ruling in Belarus sentenced my friend Andrzej Poczobut for eight years in prison. He wants to destroy all free people, but he will never break Andrzej,” Gazeta Wybrocza deputy editor-in-chief Roman Imielski said.
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Rescue crews in Turkey and Syria raced against time and 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 9,400 people dead.         

The rescue effort in Turkey involved 96,000 personnel, the country’s emergency management agency said Wednesday.     

Search sites have been the scenes of some celebrations as people are found alive and taken away for medical care. But uncovering the rubble has also meant frequent increases in the number of casualties. 

Officials in Turkey said at least 6,957 people were killed and more than 38,000 others were injured. In Syria, there were at least 2,470 deaths, according to figures from the Damascus government and rescue groups.  

The earthquake is now the world’s deadliest seismic event since a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people in Japan. 

The epicenter of Monday’s pre-dawn earthquake was in Pazarcik, near the city of Gaziantep, close to the Turkey-Syria border. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was due to travel to the area on Wednesday. 

Erdogan declared seven days of national mourning and a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces directly affected by the quake.     

Erdogan described the earthquake as “unique in the world,” and he thanked Qatar for offering 10,000 container homes for people left homeless.   

Search teams and emergency aid from throughout the world poured into Turkey and Syria as rescue workers dug through the rubble in a desperate search for survivors. Some voices that had been crying out for help fell silent.

“We could hear their voices, they were calling for help,” said Ali Silo, whose two relatives could not be saved in the Turkish town of Nurdagi.   

More than 8,000 people have been pulled from the debris in Turkey alone, Vice President Fuat Oktay said, and some 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels. They huddled in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques and community centers, while others spent the night outside wrapped in blankets gathering around fires.   

Awale Ahmed Darfa, a Somali student in Gaziantep at the epicenter, described his first sensation of the earthquake in an interview with VOA Somali.    

“The situation turned critical very quickly,” he said. “We heard screams, cries and people running. The buildings were shaking as if they were shaken by jinn [evil spirits]. Everyone ran to wherever they felt they would be safe.”              

“We are now outside since we left our homes around 4 a.m.,” he added. “There is a problem being outside — it is rainy, cold, windy, and we are not wearing protective clothing. Outside, everyone is wearing what they were wearing [while] asleep. Some people do not have shoes. They told us we could not go back to the buildings because of the fear [of aftershocks]. That is the disaster here.”          

The earthquake struck a region enveloped on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. On the Syrian side, the swath affected is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from the conflict.        

The opposition-held regions in Syria are packed with about 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting. Many of them live in buildings that are already damaged from past bombardments. 

The opposition emergency organization, the White Helmets, has experience pulling people from buildings collapsed by airstrikes. But with calls for help coming from more than 700 places, Mounir al-Mostafa, deputy head of the White Helmets, said they are overwhelmed. They can realistically help in 30 places.   

Residents in Turkey’s western city of Izmir organized a clothing donation campaign to help the victims.          

Emre Demirpolat told VOA’s Turkish Service, “We brought blankets and heaters. We need to be united. … In such bad times, we must support each other. While we can’t stay outside for 10 minutes in this cold, people there shudder to think about the loss of their homes and when they will get to go to a warm place.”           

In other parts of Turkey, residents struggled to find transportation to travel to the earthquake-stricken area to see their relatives and loved ones.             

Serdar Özdemir, an Ankara resident, told VOA’s Turkish service he was finally able to get a bus ticket to go to the city of Malatya, after not being able to find a car rental.             

“I can’t rent a car. There’s no way to go. I have been looking for a car here for hours.”               

Turkey is in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.    

In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed when a 7.4 magnitude earthquake — the worst to hit Turkey in decades — struck near Duzce, in the northwest of the country.                      

Last October, a magnitude 7.0 quake hit the Aegean Sea, killing 116 people and injuring more than 1,000. All but two of the victims were in Izmir. 

VOA’s Turkish and Somali services contributed to this report.             

Some material for this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
…

The Justice Department is putting associates of Russian oligarchs on notice.    

In the latest case of its kind, U.S. prosecutors have charged an associate of Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg with sanctions violation and money laundering in connection with helping to maintain Vekselberg’s U.S. properties, according to a five-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday.    

Vladimir Voronchenko, a Russian citizen and U.S. permanent resident who fled to Russia last May, is accused of facilitating more than $4 million in payments for the maintenance of four properties owned by Vekselberg.  

The properties — an apartment on New York’s Park Avenue, an estate in the seaside community of Southampton, New York, an apartment and a penthouse apartment on Fisher Island, Florida — are worth about $75 million, according to the indictment. Voronchenko is accused of unsuccessfully trying to sell the New York and Southampton properties in violation of sanctions imposed on Vekselberg in 2018.    

This is the third indictment of a Vekselberg associate in recent weeks. Last month, the Justice Department charged two businessmen — one British and one Russian — in separate indictments in connection with the operation of a $90 million, 255-foot luxury yacht owned by Vekselberg. The yacht had been seized by Spanish authorities at the request of the United States.  

The Justice Department’s Task Force Kleptocapture, created in March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has been leading the fight against corrupt Russian oligarchs. The task force has recently focused on targeting the oligarchs’ enablers.    

“Shell companies, straw men, and professional money launderers did not shield Voronchenko or the illicit transactions charged today from the investigative persistence of [Homeland Security investigations], FBI, and the attorneys of the Southern District of New York,” Andrew Adams, director of the task force, said in a statement.    

“Today’s indictment is yet another reminder of the priority that the Department of Justice places on uncovering the proceeds of kleptocracy and sanctions evasion and on prosecuting those who would take a paycheck in exchange for facilitating money laundering and sanctions evasion.”   

Voronchenko, 70, who lived in three of Vekselberg’s U.S. properties, held himself out as a successful businessman, art collector and art dealer, and as a close friend and business associate of Vekselberg, according to the indictment.  

He is charged with two counts related to sanctions violation, and two counts related to money laundering and one count of contempt of court for fleeing the United States seven days after being served with a subpoena to produce documents and appear before a grand jury, according to the Justice Department.  

Vekselberg, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at more than $5 billion, was first sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018 for operating in Russia’s energy sector and again last March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

He bought the four U.S. properties between 2008 and 2017, using a string of shell companies to mask his ownership from public view, according to court documents. 

A New York lawyer retained by Voronchenko helped purchase the properties on behalf of Vekselberg and later managed their finances using his “interest on lawyer’s trust account,” or IOLTA, to receive payments from shell companies.    

The American Bar Association describes IOLTA as “a method of raising money for charitable purposes, primarily the provision of civil legal services to indigent persons.”  

Vekselberg’s purchase of the U.S. properties was hidden behind multiple corporate veils.  

Take his 2017 purchase of the Fisher Island penthouse. 

The $31.2 million purchase was made by Voxi Management Corp., a Bahamian company owned by Medallion Inc., a Panamanian-registered company. 

According to the indictment, Medallion was owned by another Panamanian company, identified as Company 1, which, in turn, was owned by a Panamanian foundation, identified as Foundation 1. 

“The first and exclusive beneficiary of Foundation 1 was a British Virgin Islands company (“Company 2”), of which Vekselberg was the sole owner,” the document says. 

As of the date of the indictment, Vekselberg remained the ultimate “beneficial owner” of Voxi and Medallion, which in turn owned the U.S. properties.   

The indictment includes a notice of U.S. intent to forfeit Vekselberg’s U.S. properties.  
…

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 extortion campaign was not sophisticated, it drew warnings from national cyber watchdogs in part because of the speed of its spread.

Ransomwhere did not name individual victims, but Reuters was able to identify some by looking up internet protocol address data tied to the affected servers via widely used internet scanning tools such as Shodan.

The extent of the disruption to the affected organizations, if any, was not clear.

Florida Supreme Court spokesperson Paul Flemming told Reuters that the affected infrastructure had been used to administer other elements of the Florida state court system, and that it was segregated from the Supreme Court’s main network.

“Florida Supreme Court’s network and data are secure,” he said, adding that the rest of the state court system’s integrity also was not affected.

A dozen universities contacted by Reuters, including the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Rice University in Houston, and institutions of higher learning in Hungary and Slovakia, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Reuters also contacted the hackers via an account advertised on their ransom notes but only received a payment demand in return. They did not respond to additional questions.

Ransomwhere said the cybercriminals appear to have extorted only $88,000, a modest haul by the standard of multimillion-dollar ransoms regularly demanded by some hacking gangs.

One cybersecurity expert said the outbreak, thought to have exploited a 2-year-old vulnerability in VMWare software, was typical of automated attacks on servers and databases that have been carried out by hackers for years.

VMWare has urged customers to upgrade to the latest versions of its software.

“This is nothing unusual,” said Patrice Auffret, founder of French internet scanning company Onyphe. “The difference is the scale.”

Also uncommon is the highly visible nature of the outbreak, which began earlier this month. Because internet-facing servers were affected, researchers and tracking services like Ransomwhere or Onyphe could easily follow the criminals’ trail.

Digital safety officials in Italy said Monday that there was no evidence pointing to “aggression by a state or hostile state-like entity.”

Samuli Kononen, an information security specialist at the Finnish National Cyber Security Centre, said the attack was likely carried out by a criminal gang, although he added that it was not particularly sophisticated as many victims had managed to salvage their data without paying a ransom.

“More experienced ransomware groups usually don’t make that kind of mistake,” he said.
…

In response to deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the United States has mobilized search and rescue teams to support relief efforts. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias spoke with humanitarian workers about the challenges and how people can help.
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The death toll from Monday’s massive earthquakes in Turkey and Northern Syria has passed 5,000 people, with rescue efforts continuing into another bitterly cold night. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Istanbul with Memet Aksakal in Diyarbakir, Turkey.

Camera: Memet Aksakal, Mahmut Bozarslan
…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday vowed that Russia will continue helping Mali improve its military capabilities in a joint press conference aired live on state television.

Standing alongside his Malian counterpart, Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, Russia top diplomat touted the August 2021 delivery of several fighter jets and helicopters, adding that more military support is assured.

“We have delivered very important aircraft,” he said, “and this has considerably increased the capacity of Malian armed forces to eradicate the terrorist threat.”

Russian support for the West African nation’s efforts to sustain a decade-long battle against al-Qaida and Islamic-State-linked militants has increased since France’s withdrawal from the country last year.

The French army intervened in Mali in 2013 after the north of the country was taken over by Islamist militants but withdrew last year on concerns about Mali’s military government working with Kremlin-backed Wagner Group mercenaries

The growing partnership between Moscow and Bamako has prompted Western concern. Mali has been under international scrutiny for cooperating with Russian Wagner mercenaries since last year, with the U.N. and several international human rights organizations calling for investigations of massacres committed by the mercenaries working with the Malian army.

Lavrov and Diop both referenced efforts by the United Nations to investigate human rights abuses in Mali. Both ministers described those efforts as “neocolonial,” with Diop claiming they are an effort to “destabilize” Mali.

Rights groups and journalists reported human rights abuse allegations committed by Russian mercenaries several times last year. Following one investigation, French broadcasts were banned from the country.

Last week U.N. experts called for an investigation into “international crimes” committed by the Wagner Group in Mali.

Following testimony at a U.N. Security Council meeting on January 27, Mali’s military government expelled the chief of the U.N. mission to Mali’s human rights division for “destabilizing and subversive” actions against the Malian government.

Violence has continued to spread south in recent years, with several attacks in recent months near Bamako attributed to Islamist militants. In July of last year, Mali’s main military base in Kati, 15 kilometers from Bamako, was attacked by Islamist militants.

Lavrov’s visit comes as Moscow seeks to shore up relations with its allies amid Western isolation because of its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian news agency RIA quoted Lavrov as saying that Moscow hoped to start delivering wheat, fertilizers and oil products to Mali soon.

Lavrov has visited a series of African countries recently as Moscow, hit by Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine, seeks to strengthen ties and strategic partnerships elsewhere.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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A Moscow court on Monday sentenced a popular cookbook author and blogger to nine years in prison after convicting her in absentia of spreading false information about the country’s military. The trial was part of the Kremlin’s sweeping, months-long crackdown on dissent. 

The charges against Veronika Belotserkovskaya, who lives abroad, were brought over her Instagram posts that the authorities alleged contained “deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to destroy cities and the civilian population of Ukraine, including children.” 

Belotserkovskaya, whose Instagram profile says she was born in Odessa, a city in southern Ukraine, responded to the news of the sentencing by writing that she is, “on one hand, perplexed, and on the other hand, of course, proud.” 

Russia’s Investigative Committee announced launching a case against Belotserkovskaya on March 16, 2022, several weeks after Moscow’s troops rolled into Ukraine. It was the first publicly-known case under a new law adopted earlier that month that penalized information seen as disparaging to the Russian military. 

The Russian authorities issued an arrest order for the blogger in absentia, put her on a wanted list and seized 153 million rubles (roughly $2.2 million) worth of her assets. 

She was also declared a “foreign agent,” a designation that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations aimed at discrediting the recipient. 

Belotserkovskaya has been handed the longest prison sentence under the new law and is the second prominent public figure to be sentenced in absentia. 

Last week, a Moscow court sentenced Alexander Nevzorov, a television journalist and former lawmaker, in absentia to eight years in prison on the same charges.  

Nevzorov was accused of posting “false information” on social media about the Russian shelling of a maternity hospital in the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol. Moscow has fiercely denied its involvement. 

The journalist moved abroad after the start of the Ukrainian conflict. 

In December, prominent opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced to 8½ years in prison under the same law. Earlier last year, Alexei Gorinov, a member of a Moscow municipal council Yashin used to chair, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his critical remarks about the hostilities in Ukraine. 

Another leading opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is currently in custody facing the same charges. 
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As Russia’s targeted attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure continue, Ukraine is forced to rethink its energy future. While inventing ways to quickly restore and improve the resilience of its energy system, Ukraine is also looking for green energy solutions. Anna Chernikova has the story from Irpin, one of the hardest-hit areas of the Kyiv region. Camera: Eugene Shynkar.
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Ukrainian Defense Secretary Oleksii Reznikov tweeted Tuesday that reforms continue, “even during the war,” in comments that came amid a string of government resignations and firings and rumors that he would be replaced. 

“Thank you all for your support, as well as constructive criticism. We draw conclusions,” Reznikov said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not publicly remarked on comments from a member of parliament suggesting Reznikov would be transferred to another position. 

In his nightly address Monday, Zelenskyy said his government is “strengthening our management positions,” including appointing “managers with military experience” in border and frontline regions. 

Reznikov has said that while he was not planning to resign, any decision about his future would be made by the president.  

The shakeup of Zelenskyy’s government in late January included the resignation of Deputy Defense Minister Viacheslav Shapovalov, who was in charge of logistical support for Ukraine’s forces. He cited allegations about a food procurement scandal that he denies. 

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia could be preparing an offensive to show gains as the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine approaches.

Britain’s defense ministry said Tuesday Russia has likely been trying to restart offensive operations in Ukraine since early January, and that its goal “is almost certainly to capture the remaining Ukrainian-held parts of Donetsk Oblast.” 

Britain’s assessment said it is “unlikely that Russia can build up the forces needed to substantially affect the outcome of the war within the coming weeks.”    

UN chief warns of escalation    

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned nations that he fears the likelihood of further escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict means the world is heading toward a “wider war.”   

“The prospects for peace keep diminishing. The chances of further escalation and bloodshed keep growing,” he told diplomats in New York. “I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open.”   

As Ukraine awaits more weapons from the West to repel Russian forces, Switzerland is close to breaking with a centuries-long tradition as a neutral state, as pro-Ukrainian sentiments pervade public and political sectors, pressuring the government to end its ban on exports of Swiss weapons.    

Under Swiss neutrality, dating back to 1815 and enshrined by treaty in 1907, Switzerland will not send weapons directly or indirectly to combatants in a war.    

Lawmakers are divided on the issue.    

“We want to be neutral, but we are part of the Western world,” said Thierry Burkart, leader of the center-right FDP party, who has submitted a motion to the government to allow arms re-exports to countries with similar democratic values to Switzerland.     

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
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Structural engineers, soldiers, paramedics and handlers with trained search dogs are heading to Turkey and Syria to help locate and rescue survivors of Monday’s earthquake. Here’s a glance at the assistance that’s being provided:

The European Union has mobilized search and rescue teams to help Turkey, while the bloc's Copernicus satellite system has been activated to provide emergency mapping services. At least 13 member countries have offered assistance.
The United States is coordinating immediate assistance to Turkey, including teams to support search and rescue efforts. In California, nearly 100 Los Angeles County firefighters and structural engineers, along with six specially trained dogs, were being sent to Turkey.
Russian rescue teams from the Emergencies Ministry were sent to Syria, where Russian military deployed in that country already has sent 10 units comprising 300 people to help clear debris and search for survivors. The Russian military has set up points to distribute humanitarian assistance. Russia also has offered help to Turkey, which has been accepted.





War-ravaged Syria called for the United Nations and its members to help with rescue efforts, health services, shelter and food aid. Both government-held territory and the last opposition-held enclave were damaged by the earthquake.
The Israeli army is sending a search and rescue team of 150 engineers, medical personnel and other aid workers to render lifesaving aid in Turkey. The two countries are mending ties after years of tensions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has also approved a request for humanitarian aid for Syria. Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations.





Neighbor and historic rival Greece is sending Turkey a team of 21 rescuers, two rescue dogs and a special rescue vehicle, together with a structural engineer, five doctors and seismic planning experts in a military transport plane.
South Korea will dispatch a 60-person search and rescue team and send medical supplies to Turkey. The government also says it is providing an initial $5 million in humanitarian support, and the Gyeonggi provincial government plans to provide $1 million in humanitarian assistance.
Pakistan has sent one flight of relief supplies and another carrying a 50-member search and rescue team. The government says daily aid flights to Syria and Turkey will start Wednesday.





Britain is sending 76 search-and-rescue specialists with equipment and dogs, as well as an emergency medical team, to Turkey. The U.K. also says it's in contact with the U.N. about getting support to victims in Syria.
India is sending 100 search and rescue personnel from its Natural Disaster Response Force to Turkey, as well as specially trained dog squads and equipment for relief efforts. Medical teams with trained doctors, paramedics and essential medicines are also ready, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Taiwan is sending 130 rescue squad members, five search dogs and 13 tons of equipment to Turkey. Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang said the first group left for Turkey late Monday and another was sent Tuesday. Taiwan earlier said it would donate $200,000 to Turkey.
Swiss rescue dog service REDOG is sending 22 rescuers with 14 dogs to Turkey. The government said it would also send 80 search and rescue specialists to the country, including army disaster experts.
The Czech Republic is sending Turkey a team of 68 rescuers, including firefighters, doctors, structural engineers and also experts with sniffer dogs.
Japan is sending a group of about 75 rescue workers to Turkey.
Lebanon's cash-strapped government is sending soldiers, Red Cross and Civil Defense first responders, and firefighters to Turkey to help with its rescue efforts.
Germany is readying deliveries of emergency generators, tents, blankets and water treatment equipment. It also has offered to send teams from the THW civil protection agency to Turkey. The group International Search and Rescue Germany was also preparing to fly dozens of doctors and rescue experts to Turkey late Monday.





Austria has offered to send 84 soldiers from a military disaster relief unit to Turkey.
Spain was preparing to send two Urban Search and Rescue teams to Turkey with 85 personnel, and a contingent of volunteer firefighters.
Poland is sending Turkey 76 firefighters and eight trained dogs, with equipment.
Romania is sending specialized personnel and material to Turkey on two military aircraft.





Croatia is sending 40 personnel and 10 dogs, rescue equipment and vans to Turkey.
Serbia is sending 21 rescuers and three liaison officers to Turkey.





Montenegro is sending at least 24 firefighters to Turkey.
Moldova's president says 55 rescue workers have been sent to Turkey.
France is dispatching rescue teams to Turkey.
Jordan is sending emergency aid to Syria and Turkey on the orders of King Abdullah II.
Mexico's foreign affairs secretary said the country will send equipment and rescue specialists to Turkey.





Egypt has pledged urgent humanitarian aid to Turkey.
Italy's Civil Protection Agency has offered assistance to Turkey. A firefighting team was preparing to leave from Pisa, and the Italian military says transport flights will carry equipment as well as health and other personnel.
New Zealand is providing $632,000 to the Turkish Red Crescent and $316,000 to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to deliver items such as food, tents and blankets, as well as provide medical assistance and psychological support.
China's Red Cross Society is providing the Turkish Red Crescent and the Syrian Red Crescent with $200,000 each in humanitarian assistance.

…

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the annual Munich security conference this month, her office said Monday.   

Harris will use her February 16-18 stay in Germany and her attendance at the annual forum, as the war in Ukraine nears one year of combat, “to demonstrate Transatlantic unity and resolve,” said a communique from press secretary Kirsten Allen.   

The 59th edition of the security conference, which draws leaders from around the world, will be held February 17-19.    

Harris will give a speech at the conference itself and meet with foreign leaders.   

Her presence will also show U.S. leadership in the world and “our enduring commitment to support Ukraine,” the statement said. 
…

Countries around the world are rushing to send rescue workers, equipment and aid after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria early Monday. 

U.S. President Joe Biden said in statement that U.S. “teams are deploying quickly to begin to support Turkish search and rescue efforts and address the needs of those injured and displaced by the earthquake.” 

Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to offer condolences and said the United States will send “any and all” aid needed to help recovery, the White House said in a statement. 

John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said the United States is deploying two 79-person urban search and rescue teams and that the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, are coordinating with their Turkish counterparts on additional assistance. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, to “pick up the phone and let us know” what the United States can do to help, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price. 

The European Union said it mobilized rescue teams with crews from countries including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania dispatched to the region. At least 13 member countries have offered assistance. 

“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones and the brave first responders working to save lives,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said in a joint statement. 

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said their governments were ready to help those affected by the earthquake. 

Britain said it was sending a team of 76 search-and-rescue specialists, equipment and rescue dogs. 

“Greece is mobilizing its resources and will assist immediately,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said search and rescue teams, as well as medical aid, would be going to Turkey in response to a request from the Turkish government. 

Israel also said it had received a request for humanitarian aid for Syria through a diplomatic official and would send assistance. The two historical adversaries have no diplomatic relations. 

Russia also said it had rescue teams preparing to go to Turkey and Syria to help earthquake victims. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad and Turkey’s Erdogan to express his condolences over the death and destruction caused by the earthquake. 

The United Arab Emirates said it would set up a field hospital in Turkey and send search-and-rescue teams to Turkey and Syria. 

Iraq said it would send civil defense teams to Turkey and Syria with relief supplies, including food and fuel. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his government’s support as well. 

“I am shocked to learn of deaths and injuries of hundreds of people as a result of the earthquake in Turkey,” Zelenskyy tweeted. “We send our condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery. At this time, we stand by the friendly Turkish people and are ready to provide the necessary assistance.” 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “anguished” by the deaths in Turkey and Syria and said two teams comprising 100 personnel with specially trained dogs were ready to be flown to the affected areas. 

China’s president, Xi Jinping, sent his condolences to the leaders of Turkey and Syria while China’s foreign aid agency said it was in communication with both countries and “willing to provide emergency humanitarian aid in accordance with the needs of the affected population.” 

Japan, another country often plagued by earthquakes, said it is sending a group of about 75 rescue workers to Turkey. 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg expressed “full solidarity” with alliance member Turkey and said, “NATO allies are mobilizing support now.” 

At the United Nations, the General Assembly observed a minute of silence in tribute to the victims. 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his “deepest condolences” and said the United Nations “is fully committed to supporting the response,” according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. 

“Our teams are on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance.  We count on the international community to help the thousands of families hit by this disaster, many of whom were already in dire need of humanitarian aid in areas where access is a challenge,” Dujarric said. 

Some material for this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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U.K. authorities said Monday British businesses and consumers are likely to need a digital version of the pound, formally asking for public comment on the idea of introducing a central bank digital currency.

Britain, home to the world’s second-biggest financial center, is trailing former colonies such as Nigeria, the Bahamas and Jamaica in rolling out a digital currency. More than 80% of the world’s central banks are considering launching digital currencies or have already done so, according to the consultant PwC.

“While cash is here to stay, a digital pound issued and backed by the Bank of England could be a new way to pay that’s trusted, accessible and easy to use,” Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt said in a statement. “That’s why we want to investigate what is possible first, whilst always making sure we protect financial stability.”

The call for public input comes almost two years after the Treasury and Bank of England said they were considering introducing a digital currency.

While Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested naming the initiative “Britcoin” when he was Treasury chief, the Bank of England has stressed that the potential currency shouldn’t be confused with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Backed by the central bank, the new currency would be “reliable and retain its value over time,” in contrast to cryptocurrencies that can fluctuate wildly and threaten the holdings of investors, the Bank of England says on its website.

That industry has been particularly unstable in recent months, escalating calls for greater regulation. Crypto crashes last year tanked assets, while crypto exchange FTX’s multibillion-dollar collapse and bankruptcy in November triggered fraud charges against founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

The proposed digital currency would be denominated in pounds, with 10 pounds of digital currency always equal to a 10-pound note, the bank said. Held in a digital wallet, the currency could be used to pay for goods and services electronically.

Supporters of central bank digital currencies say they make digital transactions easier and cheaper and expand access to the financial system because they can be used by people who don’t have bank accounts.

This is one of the reasons the Bahamas became the first country to introduce a digital currency in 2020. Nigeria and Jamaica have since followed suit, with China and more than 20 other countries running trial projects. The U.S. and European Union are considering introducing digital currencies.

But digital currencies also present risks, including cyberattacks, privacy concerns and the danger that they can be used by criminals.

Because money invested in central bank digital currencies is safer than a bank deposit, they also may draw savings away from commercial banks and weaken the financial system, critics argue.

A digital pound would have “risks but no obvious benefits,” former Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King, now a member of the House of Lords, said recently.

While such digital currencies may be useful in countries that don’t have effective banking systems, that’s not the case in Britain, he said.

“The government has said that it wants the U.K. to be at the forefront of innovation, crypto-assets and fintech, but we need to be selective and not driven by a misplaced enthusiasm for all things crypto,” King said.
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The Biden administration is working on making sanctions targeting Russia more effective by explicitly warning Russian trading partners that they run legal risks doing business with banned entities.

Brian Nelson, U.S. Undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, recently met with government officials and banking sector representatives in Turkey to discuss how U.S. sanctions on Russia affect Turkish businesses as part of a regional tour that also included the United Arab Emirates.

Trade experts told VOA that the U.S. is focusing on depriving Russia’s military of advanced equipment by threatening to enact secondary sanctions on businesses that still trade with Russia.

“In engaging with sanctioned Russian entities, Turkish businesses and banks could put themselves at risk of sanctions and a potential loss of access to G7 markets,” Nelson told the Bank Association of Turkey, in remarks that were also published online afterward.

‘Dual-use technology’

Pointing to the rise in Turkey’s exports to Russia last year, Nelson urged companies to take extra precautions, especially when it comes to dual-use technology transfers that could be used by the Russian military-industrial complex.

The dual-use term refers to items or know-how that could potentially be used for both civilian and military purposes, such as semiconductors.

The warning came a week after the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, known as OFAC, targeted Russian private military company Wagner Group as well as other entities seen as supporting the Russian military complex.

Last week’s designation included Aviacon Zitotrans, a Russian cargo airline company, which, according to the Treasury, sought to use a Turkish company and Turkish diplomats to facilitate the sale of Russian defense equipment abroad.

Experts point out that Turkey doubled its exports to Russia in 2022.

According to Marshall Billingslea, former assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the Treasury Department, the exported materials include things such as semiconductors.

“Turkey has gone from virtually no exports of semiconductors to Russia in 2021 to now being the fourth-largest supplier,” he told VOA.

Focus on Russian trade partners

Brian O’Toole worked as a senior adviser to the director of OFAC during previous administrations and played a central role in designing the sanctions regime in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. He said Treasury appears to be clearly signaling that it is focused now on banned exports to Russia, in particular semiconductor exports. But he said Treasury likely has other interests in Turkey.

“Military is top priority and, two, is Russian oligarchs and elites using Turkey as a safe haven for assets when they’ve been sanctioned elsewhere. The third is the backfill component. Turkey shouldn’t be taking advantage of the West pulling out.”

NATO member Turkey, which has maintained good relations with Kyiv and Moscow, has opposed blanket Western sanctions on Russia, saying it must pursue its own policy in order to protect its interests.

Ankara, which previously condemned Russia’s invasion, saying it fully supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine, has said in the past it would not allow international sanctions to be circumvented.

But U.S. Treasury official Nelson told Turkish bankers that Russian oligarchs have continued to buy property and yachts in Turkey. He urged enhancing due diligence beyond checking the U.S. sanctions list.

“The screening should also capture companies and proxies that sanctioned Russian and Belarusian actors use as fronts,” he warned.

Russian sanctions evasion

Studies of Russia’s economy this year indicate that while sanctions have driven up prices and made some high-tech equipment harder to find, importers have found new ways of getting banned equipment into the country through third countries.

An investigative report by the Wall Street Journal based on trade data shows more than a dozen Turkish companies exported plastics, rubber products, transport vehicles and generators last year and that those items were purchased by 10 Russian companies on the U.S. sanctions list.

The Turkish Embassy in Washington did not reply to a request for comment on the alleged sanctions violations before publishing.
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Some 120,000 ethnic Armenians in the mostly Azerbaijan-controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh have been cut off from the rest of the world for over 50 days and are now facing a humanitarian crisis. Arus Hakobyan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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France will provide subsidies to wine producers in regions like Bordeaux to offload surplus supplies, the agriculture ministry said on Monday, as the renowned industry struggles with declining consumption.

Falling demand for red wine, as French consumers drink less alcohol or turn to other wine categories, has hammered the sector in Bordeaux, even as champagne makers have been toasting record sales.

As a short-term measure, the government will channel up to 160 million euros ($172.03 million) of national and European Union aid this year for distilling surplus stocks into alcohol, the ministry said in a statement after a meeting with industry representatives.

A similar step was taken three years ago to absorb excess supplies caused by the closure of French bars and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government will also study longer-term measures for the wine industry to adapt to climate change, consumer trends and export demand, the ministry said.

A crisis committee has been set up in Bordeaux by the local prefect (regional administrator) to look into steps including pulling up some vineyards to counter disease, it added.
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Southern Turkey has been struck by a powerful earthquake along the Syrian border. Authorities have confirmed nearly one thousand dead and hundreds more injured, with a state of emergency declared. Calls are out for international assistance.

A man calls out to someone buried deep in the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in the southern city of Malatya. All over southern Turkey, rescuers are in a desperate race against time to find survivors following one of the most powerful earthquakes to strike the country in decades. Videos on social media show streets of destroyed apartment blocks due to the quake, which had a magnitude of 7.8 according to preliminary readings.

Collapsing buildings hampered rescue efforts as powerful aftershocks shook the region. Professor Orhan Tatar of Turkey’s disaster response agency AFAD warned of the scale of aftershocks.

Tatar said, “There have been more than a hundred aftershocks, three of them are above 6.6, and there has just been another earthquake centered in the town of Elbistan triggered by the initial quake.”

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said more than 1,700 buildings had collapsed by late morning. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said all the country’s resources are being mobilized.

Soylu said all of Turkey’s governors were on duty. He added that gendarmerie, police, the Turkish Armed Forces, disaster and emergency teams, Turkish Red Crescent, and search and rescue teams from all over the country were being dispatched to the region.

The earthquake struck at 4:15 a.m. local time between the cities of Karamanmaras and Gaziantep.

Two state hospitals were among the buildings that collapsed Monday in southern Turkey. The strong quake surpasses the 1999 shock that hit close to Istanbul and killed more than 17,000 people.

Many people in the region were on the streets in sub-zero temperatures.

Severe winter conditions are hampering rescue efforts due to heavy snow in the region. Many roads have been heavily damaged, and at least one runway at an airport was rendered unusable.

The Turkish government declared a state of emergency and called for international assistance.

The United States issued a statement saying “any and all” needed assistance would be provided. Ukraine, India, and Israel are also offering support as Turkey mobilizes for what is expected to be one of the largest emergency operations in the country’s history. Syrian health officials said at least 371 people were killed in the government-held areas, while rescue workers said at least 221 others died in rebel-controlled areas.

Chris Hannas contributed to this report.
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