>> hello and welcome to france 24. we are "live from paris." u.s. president joe biden says america has lost one of its greats after former secretary of state colin powell passes away of the competions from covid-19. the faa will assist to incorporate a group of missionaries abducted over the weekend in haiti. and privacy concerns raised

after facebook announced a plan to hire 10,000 people in the european union, the company looking to transform the way people communicate online with the metaverse. kate moody will have more in business. ♪ the learner: but first, colin powell has passed today due to complications from covid-19. he served as former joint chiefs of staff, was the first rican-american secretary of state. despite his accomplishment, his repetitions was tarnished by speech at the united nations paving the way for the u.s. to attack iraq in 2003, a speech colin powell said he would always regret. reporter: colin powell death has

evoked tributes from people close to him both professionally and personally. secretary of defense lloyd austin said he felt like hhad a hole in his heart. >> and last -- -- i lost a tremendous personal friend and trader. he has been my friend over the years. i could always go to him with tough issues for great counsel. reporter: it was under george w. bush that power became the first african-american secretary of state. the former president released a statement saying he was deeply saddened by the u.s. war hoes death, going want to call him a great public servant, starting with vietnam. power was arguably the most respected and celebrated american in uniform at the time he retired. >> he gave the state department and the very best of his leadership. his experience, his judaism. he gave us his dignity and the

state department loved him for it. reporter: condolences came from both republicans and democrats. gop senator and former governor mitt romney says powell's legacy of service and honor would long inspire. power was also remembered on an international scale. germany's foreign minister heiko maas paid tribute to a transatlantic bridge builder, and former british prime minister tony blair, who joined bush in the iraq war, said powell's life stood as a testament to putting aside partisan divisions in the interest of his country. delano: for more on the story, we go to our correspondent in washington. that colin powel was respected not just by republicans, but also by democrats. reporter: yes, and it is rare enough these days in washington to be noted when you are praised

by both sides of the aisle, and it really shows just how much colin powell really marched all these years, whether it was during his military service or as civil servant. that was through his career, of course. he served as the chairman of the joint chiefs, he served as national security advisor and as secretary of state, all of that through four different presidents, three of them republicans, four of them democrats. he was seen as principl person, not an ideological person. he was really praised for telling people what he thought. and you can see that in how he evolved. initially, he was a republican and member of the gop who supported republican presidents, then he veered away from the republican party when he started

feeling uncomfortable with how that party was evolving. in 2008, he supported barack obama, the democrat, against the republican john mccain. he went on to support hillary clinton in 2016 donald trump, and again, joe biden in 2020 against donald trump. in january, after the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol, he said he was not longer part of the republican party, really breaking ranks. very -- he kept very close ties with members of both parties. traditional leadership of both the republican and democratic party. monte: while you were speaking, you listed out his many accomplishments. he had an illustrious career and he will be remembered as the first african-american secretary of state, buwhat wilhe be remembered for the most? reporter: well, you mentioned the fact that he was the first

afcan-amican tothat, he broke tr barriers. he was initially the first african-american to be national security advisor and ronald reagan then, the first african-american, and also the youngest chairman of the joint chiefs. that was under george h. w. bush. evy time he had a new position, he was breaking new ground. kamala harris, mentioned the fact that he was someone that a lot of people in the african-american community, especially in the armed services, looked up to and saw as possibly a symbol of the best that the united states can bring. so really his career, both as a military man and as a civil servant, is part of his legacy. antony blinken talked about how his time in the military made him an even better diplomat, but

his legacy, of course, as much as it is being praised, as much as the person himself has been praised, there is, of course, the stain of the iraq war. he himself has said it and acknowledged it in public, he has called it a blot on his record, remembering how difficult it was to see himself in that speech in front of the united nations, defending the invasion of iraq. he felt that that was a mistake and that he would never really forget, that it would forever stating his career. his illustrious career, despite that. monte: thank you for the update. we will stay with the storied next and bring in wesley martin, a retired u.s. army colonel and former u.s. antiterrorism officer in iraq. thank you for joining us. in a statement from president

biden on colin powell's passing, he said "powell was a patriot of unmatched honor and dignity." how would you describe colin powell's record of public service? >> it was mentioned earlier that he was aole model for african-american soldiers -- he was a role model for all of us. he always maintained himself with a quiet dignity. if we look back at desert storm, the leader of the ground forces, a big, rotund, very vocal, very forceful. and yet you have a man of incredible combat background as his supervisor, colin powell, and it was a perfect balance. we needed somebody with quiet dignity and presence to back up the aggressive on-ground bombastic commander of norma

schwarzkopf. they were both ideal in what they did. in his record throughout -- he was trapped in a bad situation under briefing before the u.n. he was given bad information by the state department, by the cia and by the defense investigative agency. at one point he said, "i can't do this." because he saw flaws and he told george tenet, if i will present this information at the u.n., you will sit behind me. but even though he objected to it, and he told bush and rumsfeld and cheney, vice president cheney, you have got to allow diplomacy to work. he was constantly pushing for diplomacy, yet when it came time for him to be pushed into it, he stepped into the ranks and he

did go forth and give the briefing. later, he actually said "people will never trust me again,." delano: during that speech, he spoke about weapons of destruction in iraq, and given that that speech shaped u.s. foreign policy for two decades or so, how damaging was it to his career? >> the speech did not so much damage his career as secretary of state, and i will get to that in a minute, but it did, once we got into iraq. first off, let me say this -- we had no legal reason to go into iraq. saddam was not a good person. i dealt with him later when i was operations chief for task force 134, detention operations. said dam was not a good person. but he did maintain a fine

balance of power between iraq and iran, and as long as he stayed in power, then we were going to have stability in the middle east. that invasion ended up causing the breakdown of stability. iran became the dominant force in iraq and now you see the reign of terror going all the way across iraq. look at the election going on right now in iraq and all the turmoil, syria, yemen, lebanon. we totally destroyed that fine balance of power. but what undermined powell within the bush administration was vice president cheney and secretary of defense donald rumsfeld. president george w. bush surrounded himself with his father's friends, but he did not have the intellect to deal with his father'sriends. those neoconservatives were always undermining everything powell was trying to do, to include condoleezza rice.

he was treating her like a daughter and she should have been supporting him, but she didn't. that is what politically forced owl to leave the administration. go ahead. . monte: you did mention this when talking about colin powell shattering, trailblazing, if you will, for the african-american community. do you think the former secretary of state was aware of all the doors he was opening for african-americans, because back then, nobody really talked about him being a trail blazer, because it just happened. nowadays, things are different. >> he had to realize. butere's the tng about col powell and all professional soldiers -- they do their job. as he was leading what would come behind him, he was too busy doing his job with dignity to make a great deal about how he was shattering glass ceilings.

he was going out there and doing what a fine warrior and fine soldier does. monte: wesley martin -- delano: wesley martin, thank you so much for speaking with us this evening. >> thank you. >> in other news, the fbi will assist in the recuperation of kidnapped missionaries in haiti. they were taken by a criminal gang on the way to visit an orphanage. the kidnapping once again putting a spotlight on the worsening security situation in haiti. reporter: nerves are running high on the streets as locals react to the needs of another kidnapping. >> there is no such thing as security here. it does not exist. when people hear about kidnappings, we know there aren't going to be any drivers. people don't go out into the streets. reporter: seven christian missionaries, including five

children, were kidnapped well on their way to visit this orphanage east of the capital. an armed gang hijacked their bus, according to witnesses. the fbi has stepped in to locate the group of mainly american citizens. the incident is the latest in a series of rampant kidnappings, which have been on the rise since the assassination of the haitian president in july. 328 kidnappings were reported by the end of august, according to reports by the united nations, compared to a total of 234 in 2020. mounting lawlessness which which sparked a strike on monday has caused schools to close and protests. delano: in other news, the french ambassador to belarus has been expelled after his refusal to present his credentials to the country's president following last year's disputed election. france's foreign ministry has said the expulsion of the

ambassador was a unilateral decision taken by minsk. for more, our correspondent reporting. reporter: i think the ambassador tried to string it out as long as possible, staying in minsk without presenting his credentials let her stir president lukashenko, which he couldn't do west remaining consistent with not just friends's but the european union's position of not recognizing president lukashenko's reelection as president of belarus in 2020, in the election which the european union considers to have been fraudulent. macron posted a message to the belarussian people with this message, "don't give up your hope for better days." and this was recorded in the belarussian language, which is not the language that alexander lukashenko speaks, and it is

very much regarded as a language that is used when belarussian's want to underline their differences with russia. russia, of course, supporting alexander lukashenko's regime. so i think it is not pushing things too far to see that decision to record the message in the belarussian language as sort of a tacit sign of support to members of the belarussian opposition who are suffering terrible oppression. their prost movement having been clamped down upon by mass arrests and large-scale police brutality, as we have been reporting since august of 2020. delano:, business news with kate. you are looking at facebook's pledge to hire 10,000 people in the e.u. to help build what it is: "the metaverse." kate: hard to wrap your head around, but it is a world of virtual reality.

the social media company says it wants to invest in european tech talent, but critics are already skeptical of how european data will be used. our correspondent has more. reporter: facebook points to create the new internet, metaverse using technologies like virtual and augmented reality. the social media company aims to create a greater sense of virtual presence, as sort of xt-generation online gaming that goes beyond gaming, where people, or their avatars can go shopping. to build the new computing platform, the company wants to tap european tech talent, with a plan to hire 10,000 people within the next five years. >> we will have many jobs in the coming weeks. we will hire engineers, researchers, devopers and product managers who will take part in building the metaverse.

this virtual environment in which people can do business, work, and play. reporter: a promising new market for some, a dystopian sci-fi nightmare for others who are concerned about online privacy and personal data. >> there is the issue of managing content on social media and it is precisely over days, that facebook faces criticism. so i think the model needs to change. if the same rules are on social media are tbe applied i don't think this new platform can become a huge success. reporter: the announcement comes after weeks of headaches for facebook, including a whistleblower turning u.s. congress that the company's products are toxic for teens. kate: a group of american lawmakers have accused him as an of misleading and possibly lying to congress in previous testimony on its business practices. a letter by members of both parties told amazon that it was his final chance to correct the record.

they cited misleading reports that were at odds with sworn statements from amazon executives, including founder and former ceo jeff bezos. amazon has denied the allegations. lawmakers could decide to seek a criminal investigation into the blood from's business model, specifically its business practices. a mixed close on wall street ahead of some pretty major corporate earnings reports later this week. the nasdaq outperformed, up 0.8% at the close, pushed in part by apple shares which rose 1%, as the tech giant unveiled a new raft of products for the second time in as many months includg new laptop computers. major european indices lower. 4% in the red in london, -- in paris, less in frankfurt. car manufacturers are struggling with the shortage of parts, specifically semiconductor chips. . but the current world bumps are

not stopping them from investing in what they see as the future of electric vehicles. monday saw a number of announcements. reporter: new designs for electric vehicles and from a place he wouldn't expect, foxconn, the taiwanese giant that makes components for apple, and now looking to branch away from the electronic assembly and work with manufacturers to get its concepts on the road. >> in several parts of the world, we will cooperate with partners that design cars based on the same chassis to produce locally, as we are using the same chassis design, we could reduce the time spent on designing and lower costs. reporter: foxconn dropped over 300 million euros into developing electric vehicles last year, an investment it will increase over the next two years as much of the world's automotiveector seeks cleaner cars, in the tech that goes th them.

the company called as fiat-chrler, said it would construct a new battery-making plant. ford said it was spending 373 million euros on converting a site i in the u.k. for electronc auto production. and the largest car maker unveiled a new france to put nearly 3 billion eur into u.s.-based factory lines for vehicles. >> now, one production line can lead the demand for new customers in a timely manner. companies who can do this will have a hard time surviving the other industry. reporter: matters detonate similar adjustments at one of its plants in japan last month and other manufacturers are expected to follow suit. kate:. kate: that is all the business needs for now. delano: kate moody there with the business time.

next, our daily fact checking segment in associate with france 24 observers. james creedon, you are looking at videos of natural disasters, in particular, related to the hurricane earlier this month. not all the videos circulating were reliable? james: huge amount of information ends up being uploaded on social media when in the middle of these events. for people it is a reflex to record and share. in the mix, there can be people reaching for a video online that they may think illustrates what they might have heard or seen. there is also clickbait, the more cynical approach. this hurricane had 13 deaths in iran. there was a lot of information being shared on different platforms. we will focus on three. the first one got 67,000 views

on this facebook page alone. it shows this scene, what looks like a surge, a mudslide. the collapse of this hill in the midst of an extreme weather event. some people sent this video into our observers team and with a reverse image search, it brought it back to various different shares which would indicate that he did actually happen in oman. so this was a true video. but there were a few videos that were being investigated by the france 24 observers team. this did indeed take place in oman in that particular collapse of that hill caused the death of two people in the midst of hurricane shaheen. delano: so that video is true, but the next video you have shows for bridget being battered

by waves? james: yes, what it says in the caption is, "terrifying seeing' ves as hurricane sheen approaches as someone was standing on the bridge." in fact, that did not take place in oman at all. given the reverse image search with this website, which is very reliable when it comes to tracing where that video was shared elsewhere, a good means of determining the truth or falseness of it, we are seeing images that are similar. indeed this took place on the indian archipelago, the island of minikoi, where this took place. it was very extreme weather. it should be said, this is the

arabian sea. similar weather events affected oman where there are quite strong weather systems, but this was not the same event, this was in august 2017. delano: and you have a third video for us also claiming to be hurricane shaheen in oman. james: efficiency of social media that oman has been mentioned. and when you click on the video, you can see what is quite an extreme torrent of muddy water coming down through the street. and it does look like the kind of thing you would expectn the midst of a hurricane. the first image search brings it back to this website which is a yemeni press. there are two words that indicate we are not looking at what we are told there are two words that indicate a district in yemen. so not a million miles away, but

not the same event and not the me time. this is sputk news in arabic. there were various other shares on that page showing the same sce. soextreme weather events can lead to extreme disinformation. delano: and if you notice a fake video, you consented to france 24 and contact james directly on twitter, it is @jamesf24. more news is coming up on france 24. ♪ >> consider me your code breaker. day after day, i am happy to go on air to help you make sense of the news will report. >> i am ready to go live with the analysis of the most

important events of the day as they occur and provide clarity to our viewers. >> at france 24, i worked closely with the duty editor to give perspective to the big international news stories of the day. >> my job is to follow international news and current affairs in a daily basis, to better understand and analyze the historical, geopolitical, economic, and environmental importance of the world's major news stories. >> on france 24, in-depth analysis of all the news, from our international affairs editors. liberte, egalite, fraternite. ♪

>> [speaking in spanish] liberte, egalite, fraternite. ♪ ♪

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[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amamy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we have a crisis here in the city of benton harbor, a water crisis. this water has been in a crisis longer than three years. ey claim only three years but the water crisis here is worse thanhe flintmichigan crisis. they