from berlin. the u.s. president breaks his silence on the recent ufos shot down by the military. joe biden says the three most recent objects downed over north america do not appear to resemble a suspected chinese spy balloon downed earlier this month. also coming up, after devastating earthquakes, an ancient city in ruins. we report from the turkish city

of antakya known in earlier times as antioch, where the quakes have wiped out historical sites dating back thousands of years. and the bear is back. hollywood glamour rubs up against politics as berlin's famous foam festival, the berlinale, opens. it includes the world premiere of sean penn's documentary about ukraine's wartime president. ♪ i am nicole frolich. to our viewers on pbs and our viewers all around the world, welcome. u.s. president biden has finally spoke about the chinese balloon saga and three other unknown aerial objects shot down by u.s. fighter jets in recent days. it all started when a gigantic white balloon suspected to be a chinese surveillance device was shot down in early february,

putting north american security forces on high alert. since, three other much smaller objects were spotted over canada and the united states of alaska and michigan and shut down as well. biden has now broken his silence about the unknown aerial objects. >> we do not know yet exactly what these three objects were, but nothing right now suggests they were related to china's spy balloon program, or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country. the intelligence community's current assessment is these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions starting weat -- studying weather or other scientific research. nicole: we can now speak to michaela kufner who is following all of us from washington. according to joe biden, the origin and purpose of these objects is still not clear. how can that be? michaela: because they are still

looking for the debris. this is in difficult conditions. the most they found was from the very first balloon that sparked this whole affair that is linked to chinese intelligence gathering. that much we know. we still need to learn more about the makeup of that electronics, what the precise target could have been, although there was speculation it was originally supposed to go across hawaii. but these other three balloons were discovered -- this is also being reiterated but it gets lost -- when there was another look at the radar systems used to detect any kind of flying objects. those were much more sensitive after that first balloon and that is why these other three objects were found which were initially described to be malign. now we have heard a bit more detail on that from the president. the assumption that these could have been weather balloons or from a private company.

what we learned surprisingly little new in that statement where he did not answer any questions. nicole: how will these kind of objects be dealt with in the future? michaela: that is the thing. the president did announce that there could be policy changes and a look at how protocols could potentially be changed in the future. what we know a lot more about about the balloons is the impact that this has had. this first initial balloon came as quite a bit of a shock to the american people who suddenly found a huge chinese spy balloon over their territory, and it sparked a cascade of political movement, with now all sides outbidding each other to be more critical of china. and this torpedoed attempts by president biden to put a floor in relations with china, which had been downhill anyway. his secretary of state blinken canceled a visit, now we heard from the president that he intends to reach out, reconnect

with china in the near future. so, that is something many policymakers feel is overdue, and many others who are hawkish on china feel more anti-china. that also means economics with a huge interdependence than they were before. nicole: and biden has said he wants to talk about all of this with the chinese president. michaela kufner from washington, thank you so much. more than 42,000 people are now confirmed to have been killed in earthquakes in turkiye and syria. the cities of antakya in turkiye was one of the hardest hit areas. known as antioch in ancient times, the city was a key staging point on the silk road. until recently, it was a multicultural, multi-religious place home to turks, kurds, armenians, arabs, and jews, but the quakes caused colossal damage to this once vibrant

city. our correspondent julia hahn went to antakya for us and here's what she witnessed. julia: this is what is left of antakya. once known for its rich heritage, the city now lies in ruins. unrecognizable. unreal. in the old city, several streets are still inaccessible. blocked by buildings flattened by the quakes, and cars trapped under the debris. this was the old town of antakya , once popular with tourists. but look at it now. at least half of it is gone. centuries of history, ravaged in a few minutes. cherished landmarks have been destroyed here. churches, antakya's synagogue, and the mosque.

the dome smashed into what used to be the prayer hall. built in the seventh century, it is considered to be the oldest in turkiye. he used to live next door and was trapped under the rubble of his house for more than one day after the quake struck, he tells me. >> after we got out we saw what had happened to antakya. the mosque stood here for more than 1000 years. when we saw it had collapsed, we understood how powerful the earthquake was. julia: and how deadly. he's lost many of his relatives, neighbors, and friends. >> there's nothing left in antakya. aid is coming in, but i wish before the aid they had sent heavy machinery so we could have saved all those lives. we received food, aid, bread,

but people were still under the rubble. julia: and still, the scale of the destruction makes it hard to say how many are dead and buried. rescue teams have been searching day and night for signs of life. >> from the beginning of the earthquake, the narrow space was totally blocked. it was not easy to find people. actually, the second days, third days, fourth days, there were still a lot of people alive, shouting at us for help. we tried to rescue all of them but it was impossible. julia: tens of thousands have since fled the city. for those who stayed, the search for survivors has turned into a search for reminders. >> everybody here had dreams. everybody here had a future. and now, what is left of it?

a dead city. nothing else. we could never have imagined this. we're alive, but we're now wandering around in a ghost town. julia: throughout the wreckage that was antakya, pain is plentiful. and no one here knows how long it will take for this city to recover. nicole: in turkiye, many quake victims are being buried in mass graves, making it difficult for loved ones to find them. as dw's jack parrock reports, even when there are individual graves, many are unmarked. jack: the unmistakable sound of grief. these people have just identified the body of a loved one at this graveyard on the outskirts of southern turkiye.

mustafa arrives in search of his child. >> i searched the hospitals for my baby. i want to bury my baby enter pray. that is all it -- and to pray. that is all i want. yesterday, a nurse told me my baby had died and i should come here. they showed me a photo. now i am here to find the grave. jack: mustapha goes to find his baby. vans arrive here every few minutes throughout the day, each carrying up to four people who died in the earthquakes. the national police force is coordinating the operation, taking photos and fingerprints of the bodies which they match up to a national database in coordination with the interior ministry and the office of immigration. >> when our processes are done,

there are still some bodies which cannot be identified. and for them, to avoid any confusion in the future, we take a biological sample for dna analysis which can be matched to blood samples from their families later. jack: there are 600 people working in this graveyard alone. each of the graves here has a number on it so that the families can come and find out exactly where their loved one has been buried. it's an extremely sad and extremely powerful scene. the reality of this earthquake is this is just one graveyard like this. pretty much every city in the region has a similar one. around 95% of the buried have been identified. for those whose families do not make it here in time, volunteers have come to treat the bodies before burial.

>> i wish everyone was still alive. but we're here treating the bodies as they should be treated in the islamic way. to give the families peace of mind. jack: few places represent the horrors of the earthquake more than here. and as more bodies are buried, more families walk the graveyard to find their final resting place. nicole: authorities in ukraine say they have shut down most of the six suspected russian surveillance balloons detected in the skies over kyiv. the kremlin has not commented on the reports but russian forces have launched a new round of missile attacks across ukraine. ukraine has repelled some of the attacks but authorities say multiple targets have been hit, including the country's largest oil refinery. with the latest assaults across ukraine, russia's spring offensive appears to have begun. given the problems with jets and

ammunition supplies, we asked igor zhovkva, deputy head of the office of the president of ukraine, whether his country is ready. igor: definitely we are ready. more than ready. and i think this revenge which pressure is planning now, it unfortunately will take place because they are destined to make this. but it will definitely destined to fail. it probably might have been their last huge revenge. but it's important that we should be prepared to counter offense it. we had a very good and positive dynamic through the second half of last year. after liberating the north, there was kharkiv in the eastern ukraine, there was a significant part of the south including the city of kherson. so we need to get this positive dynamic. we need to get our territories liberated inch by inch, and that

is at the aim of liberating all territory of ukraine. nicole: with concerns mounting that ammunition could be running low, we also asked zhovkva whether ukraine must prioritize which targets to choose. igor: definitely mentioning those highly sophisticated western type air defense systems, which we have already got and are already operating. we are still awaiting medium-range anti-air defense systems. definitely we cannot use them every time, because russia is combining now its efforts when firing in the skies of ukraine. they combine cruise missiles with ballistic missiles and drones, and those drones and missiles are combined with balloons. so definitely should be smart. understand the level of ammunition we have, and we are

smart, using different devices in order to intercept. but look, currently we are intercepting about 75% to 80% of the missiles or drones or any other things. it could be better, provided that we had already, as of now, the desired amount of anti-missile systems. nicole: lastly we asked zhovkva what victory would look like for kyiv. igor: the victory for ukraine is only when we liberate all the territory of ukraine as of august 24, 1991. nicole: that was igor zhovkva, deputy head of the office of the president of ukraine speaking to dw earlier. and here are some other stories making headlines around the world today. thousands of people have marched in france to denounce president macron's controversial pension reforms. demonstrators held ups lines and

-- held up signs criticizing raising the retirement age from six to two to six he four. new zealand has deployed naval investors -- at least six people died inthe cyclone which has caused major damage on the north island. the prime minister says it could take weeks to restore power to some affected regions. at least 15 people have been killed in avalanches in eastern tajikistan. most of the victims are in the regional capital. the avalanche struck after heavy snowfall. rescuers are still looking for survivors. and spain has become the first european country to introduced paid menstrual leave for painful periods. the new rule as part of a package of reforms that also expands abortion rights for teenagers. a new law that will allow anyone over 16 to change their legally registered gender was also

approved too. nearly two weeks after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the u.s. state of ohio causing a massive fire, state officials are insisting the air around the village of east palestine is safe. but local residents do not believe them. reporter: when this freight train derailed near the village of east palestine, it became clear from resulting flames that dangerous chemicals were on board. and the fire could lead to an explosion. local authorities said they were not aware of high-risk chemicals moving through the tracks before the durham it. ohio -- before the derailment. ohio's governor issued an immediate order. >> we are ordering you to leave. this is a matter of life and death. reporter: hundreds of families evacuated from the community of some 4700 people.

>> we evacuated pretty quickly. we did not know what was going on. to a hotel in west virginia. yesterday i had to go home to pick up prescriptions. the creek by my house had a very, very strong chemical smell to it. i went in my house and it was worse. reporter: meanwhile, authorities burned the remaining chemicals to prevent a catastrophic blast, releasing more toxic fumes into the air. officials collected samples to gauge the extent of environmental damage. traces of chemicals found in the nearby ohio river. thousands of dead fish found in the vicinity. >> these samples were analyzed overnight. with the fools -- with the full support of governor dewine, the evacuation order is now lifted. reporter: but returning residents have their doubts. >> my son says it stinks, it's

most like paint thinner. -- it smells like paint thinner. i go out and it smelled like really strong paint thinner. he started coughing and i am like, we are leaving. reporter: at the school gym, the local community is concerned following reports of people suffering from headaches, rashes, and painful coughing. almost two weeks on, still waiting for answers. nicole: joining me now from columbus, ohio is reporter nick evans. communication with east palestine residents seems disastrous. official sources are not passing on consistent information, and residents are frustrated. we just heard it. so how are they dealing with this situation? nick: if i were to sum it up, it sounds as though what we have heard from state government officials is that it is safe, it is clean, we are not picking up anything in our air monitoring

tests that would suggest it would be unsafe to return home. however, there's this mountain of anecdotal reports that people, like you just had, it smells like paint thinner. i just watched a stream this morning of our newest u.s. senator j.d. vance talking about, i have been here for three hours and it stinks. what we heard the other day from the state medical director, dr. bruce vander hoff, is that even at very, very, very low levels, some of these chemicals are things that the human body can detect, even if they are not necessarily unsafe. so i think what we arrived at is just, state officials cannot put their finger on anything that is wrong or bad, but the people that are living there are saying the proof is in the pudding. like, i feel this right now. my eyes are burning, it smells

strange. what do you want me to tell you, kind of thing. nicole: let's look at the facts here. what you are saying is that there can be something in the air that is not necessarily harmful to the human body. what do the on-site tests tell us? nick: what we have heard at least is that the air is clear. we have seen that the water in one of the closest nearby streams is contaminated, but state officials believe that they have it contained right now. there are major concerns, however, that what has been released already could leach into the groundwater. right now, the first issue is surface water stuff, but once it gets into the ground, does it enter the water table, and if it does, how long does it take to clean that? as it stands right now, what we have heard, at least, is that

air quality is fine. water is an issue but they are working on it. nicole: that was reporter nick evans joining us tonight from columbus, ohio. thank you so much. nick: happy to do it. nicole: here in berlin the annual international film festival known as the berlinale opens for its 73rd edition. as well as the usual red carpet glitz and grammar there are a string of movies at events in solidarity with ukraine and the protests in iran. sean penn's superpower documentary about president zelenskyy will have its premier. there are also films about the human rights protests in iran. 19 films from around the world compete for the coveted go been bear that will be awaited -- coveted golden bear that will be awarded one week from saturday. halida abbaro is covering the berlinale for us. i asked her for an update on the

first day, which is usually pretty star-studded. halida: that is right. i am here in front of the berlinale palace and tonight has been busy on the red carpet. we have had the stars of the opening film on the carpets giving autographs. peter dinklage sporting a fabulous full beard was here. anne hathaway, marisa tomei were here, they both star in the opening film, which is not in competition. and as you know, the berlinale is one of the most political festivals of all the major festivals. we don't just have stars, we have politics as well. that was very obvious during the opening ceremony which took place here tonight. half the german government was there, not just the culture minister, but also the economy minister, the agricultural minister. we also had the ukrainian ambassador, because of course ukraine is going to figure very much in this festival. john spent -- sean penn spoke briefly about his documentary

about president zelenskyy and talked about the fact he was literally about to interview zelenskyy went almost exactly a year ago today, the missiles started flying. then he introduced zelenskyy, and he made a very moving live video address. had to wait, had a standing ovation that lasted about one minute. there was not a dry eye in the house. he made some quite moving comments about how important sinemet is in breaking -- impo irtant cinema is in breaking down barriers and making people want to change the world. also talked about how berlin was a divided city and made parallels to what is going on in his country. nicole: what about the competition? because there are some prizes being given out at the berlinale every year. halida: absolutely. in 10 days there will be the golden and silver bears. there are 19 films in competition.

five of them are by german filmmakers. six of them are by women filmmakers and that is more than ever before. most of them are fictional. one documentary, two animated features. deciding who is going to win those prizes is an international jury headed by twilight star kristen stewart. we also have in the jury two former golden bear winners, carla simone who won last year for al-qurayshi, a -- for al caraz, and the 2021 director winner, and an iranian actress now living in exile since 2009, she has been living in france because she was banned going back to a ran because appearing in a hollywood film because of not wearing a job. -- wearing a hijab. nicole: we will see less of solidarity with a human rights struggles. halida: there will be a lot of

iranian films destroying -- films showing including a film called seven winters in tehran about a woman executed for defending herself against a rapist. her family now lit in berlin and they made that film in collaboration with the filmmaker. there will be nine ukrainian films as well. there will also be panels about how you can help ukrainian filmmakers in the future. nicole: we will look forward to your daily updates from all of that right there from the red carpet in front of the berlinale palace. thank you so much, halida abbaro . this was the world's largest ocean liner, thought to be unsinkable. until it sank during its maiden voyage. now rare footage of the titanic is being released, some of it for the first time. in 1986 a team of u.s. scientists filmed the titanic's wreckage after finding a year earlier up the coast of canada.

the footage is being released to coincide with the 25th anniversary of, you guessed it, of that hollywood movie. and a quick reminder of the top stories where following. president biden says the three unidentified objects shot down over north america in recent days do not appear to resemble a suspected chinese spy balloon downed earlier this month. stay with us now. after a short break i will be back to take you through "the day." hope to see you there. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

■óúóúóúóúórórórórórórór■pçóñ■ño mark: welcome to "live from

paris" world news and analysis from france 24. another miracle in the earthquake zone. a woman pulled from the rubble alive. the 17-year-old was rescued new the epicenter of the quake 10 days after it struck southern turkey. zelenskyy rules out any peace deal that involves giving up ukrainian soil. meanwhile, fighting in the eastern donbass region becomes more bitter and more entrenched.

an investigative journalist from the paris-based forbidden stories group revealed the extent of an israeli group hacking phones resulting in 30 states where the results have been influenced. this is "live from paris." thank you very much for being with us. the death toll of the earthquake in turkey and syria now stands over 42,000. amid the gloom, what is now largely a recovery operation, there was another miracle survivor pulled alive from the rubble. the 17-year-old was extracted from the ruins of a collapsed

apartment block in the province new to the epicenter of the quake 248 hours since the 7.8-magnitude tremor struck at 4:00 a.m. on february 6. >> emergency teams worked urgently to free a 17-year-old who spent 248 hours trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building. more than 10 days after the earthquake struck, her rescue on thursday is a miracle. but scenes like this have become the exception, with most search-and-rescue teams funding bodies. the news is grim as family members wait to identify the deceased. >> god willing, we will get her out and bury her and then we will see what we have to do.

>> as teams continue to search the rubble, earthquake survivors are in desk or in need of humanitarian aid and medical care. -- in desperate need. >> traumatic injuries as a result of being caught in the collapsed buildings. the other half are related to the cold weather, which causes skin problems and flus and colds. >> a mix of turkish and international teams work together to deliver hot meals, clothes, and blankets to those in need as the focus now shifts from rescue to reconstruction and support for the displaced. nato has promised its help. >> nato is setting up temporary housing for thousands of displaced people. in addition, nato also used our strategic airlift capabilities to transport tens of thousands

of tents to turkey in coming weeks. >> the red cross is warning the humanitarian crisis caused by the quake will continue for months and has launched an appeal for more assistance. >> nato's secretary-general has met with turkey's president. stilton bird paying his respects over the earthquake and, of course, the massive loss of life. his main reason for visit was for turkey to ratify the entry into nato of sweden -- of sweden and finland. turkey's refusal to sign off has caused delay. erdogan objects because of sympathy with kurdish separatists. >> my consistent position has been and remains we should

ratify finland and sweden and make full members of our alliance. mark: the head of russia's mercenary group wagner. moscow's monstrous bureaucracy was slammed for slowing the military gains. he did not throw any light on reports that prisoners from jails are being sent to the front like cannon fodder. >> stepping out of the shadows and into the limelight, claiming his title as war chief as he criticizes the russian military. >> progress is not going as fast as we would like. i think before the new year, we could have taken back mood if we did not have this monstrous military bureaucracy that is

hampering us every day. >> last month, top brass and the wagner group both claimed victory for the capture of the ukrainian sitter -- city of soledar. he called out the generals for taking credit for his battlefield wins. since then, relations have turned tense. still, his group of russian mercenaries has proved effective, and the kremlin gave permission for him to recruit prisoners to join the fight in ukraine. in recent days, he promised that back mood -- back mood -- buck moved -- bakhmut would be taken by march or april. >> if your jet takes ours, you take document -- bakhmut.

>> he relishes his tough guy image as he visits with wounded soiers. a mercenary says he is also active on another battlefield, the internet. he claims he created and financed a troll farm to carry out anti-western and pro-kremlin propaganda campaigns. mark: next, interference in over 30 elections worldwide. an investigation by the paris-based group of journalists has called for a spotlight on a 50-year-old israeli driving these nefarious activities. thank you very much for being with us. who is the man allegedly behind all this? >> officially, he only has a nickname. at the end of the investigation

with the work of one of the reporters, we finally found out who is the guy. he is a former israeli soldier who is leading the very secret unit in charge of disinformation for higher -- disinformation for hire business. he was asking them to pay 6 million euros to influence an election in africa. mark: 6 million. who is paying that kind of money? >> the kind of people who might have 6 million to pay for that might be state actors or big private companies as well. it depends. there is a different level of services they can provide you.

for instance, in kenya, they were about to hack the account of three advisors of the current president. in real life, they were doing that. what is very concerning is the issue of how to have kind of industries met each other. you do hack someone, you take some content, you transfer the content, and send this fake news through many avenues, bots, so everybody will believe the information. mark: is that the kind of idea behind the smearing of the red cross in brick and a fossil -- burkina faso?

>> it is a story where you have an ngo of the red cross being destabilized and victimized by that kind of disinformation campaign, and we were able to see that they were manipulating some journalists at a weekly newspaper in france. they were publishing an opinion piece letting people believe that the red cross in burkina faso was potentially close to a jihadist group over there, which was not true at all, but because of that opinion piece, many people were talking about that.

mark: briefly, senegal, the election, there, too, was manipulated. >> we saw they were providing a technology platform with 39,000 avatars bought. people might have 1500 real friends who might post commentary on facebook, and some of those avatars were involved in some campaign, so we know as well that this person was involved in some election in nigeria, so he's pretending to be behind more than 30 presidential elections, so we have to be very careful about that, but we were able to find the traces of all these bots.

>> thank you very much indeed. fascinating investigation. thank you very much indeed. a fifth day of national strikes in france, the latest mobilization against the plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 264. all of france's eight major unions are 100 people again -- are 100% against it. the cgt union says there are already more stoppages plan in the weeks ahead. >> the protest has arrived here in italy. it is essentially over. things have got calm and orderly, and according to the cgt union, 300,000 people have taken part in this march, less than the amount of people that took part in the march last saturday, but that was to be expected and was expected, both by unions and by police.

indeed, it is a weekday today. also, the school holidays are due to start tomorrow evening here in paris, and of course, big protests across the country. the point was to keep the pressure on the members of parliament. we are discussing this pension reform at the national assembly today, specifically working on article seven, the article that pushes the retirement age from 60 to 264 years old in france, and that, of course, is one of the most contentious articles in this law that emmanuel macron's government is trying to push through. the unions have been telling us early on that the next big day would be march 7 where they aim to block the country completely if they are not listened to. mark: joe biden said that the

unidentified balloons shot down by the u.s. military did not appear to be for spying and were likely tied to benign purposes, likely tied to private companies or research. this follows the shooting down february 4 of bigger balloon believed to have been a chinese espionage vehicle. residents at the ohio village where a freight train derailed spilling toxic chemicals demanding answers. hundreds gathered near the pennsylvania state line to hear officials insist yet again the toast -- the testing shows local air is safe to breathe and promise that air and water monitoring would continue. we are bringing you anything new on this as we get it. clearly people concerned about what is happening in their backyard. time for business. germany is bracing for another day of chaos in air travel. >> strikes in paris and in

germany as well. industrial action is affecting seven airports including germany's biggest. another trouble hub, munich airport, says there will be no regular flights at all on friday just as a major international security conference starts there. industrial action comes after an i.t. blackout at lufthansa on wednesday left thousands of passengers stranded separately on thursday. the country's airport association said several airports appear to have suffered cyber attacks. china has put two american defense plants on its trade blacklist over arms sales to taiwan. the move comes days after the u.s. government added six chinese entities to its export ban. tension has been rising between the countries.

>> china announced on thursday it was barring two u.s. companies from doing business in the country, the latest in a round of tit-for-tat sanctions between beijing and washington. the two arms firms have been prohibited in engaging in any activities or investments in china, and their executives than from entering the country. both companies have been added to an unreliablentities li fosellingrms to taiwan, which china views as a breakaway province. the move followed washington's blacklisting of six chinese companies for their involvement in a chinese balloon that entered u.s. airspace earlier this month. the united states said that was a spy balloon and shot it down. on wednesday, china said it would retaliate against those sanctions. >> the u.s. has insisted on the use of force, has overreacted and escalated the situation and

used it as a pretext to illegally sanction chinese enterprises and institutions. china firmly opposes this and will take measures in accordance with the law relevant to u.s. entities that undermine china's sovereignty. >> both companies provided hardware that was used to shoot down the chinese balloon. beijing has previously enforced sanctions on both firms on three occasions, most recently last february. the sanctions are not likely to have much of an effect on either lockheed martin or raytheon, neither of which sells defense products to china, due to u.s. government restrictions. >> lockheed shares dropped nearly 2% as the rest of wall street accelerated losses in the final hour of trading. all three main indices closed today off by 1%. prices showed inflation slowed less than expected last month. some more of the day's business

stories for you now andesla shares sank five percent after it recalled more than 360,000 cars in the united states. the move came after u.s. road safety regulators said its system allows the card to go over speed limits and makes unsafe actions at intersections. french carmaker renault has announced a dividend for the first time in four years, despite posting a loss. the company says the 700 and -- 700 million euro net loss was largely due to the hit it took from russia, but it also saw significant improvement in profitability and operating margin. youtube's chief executive is stepping down after nine years at the helm of the online video platform after nearly a quarter of a century with alphabet, its

parent company. the businesswoman says she now wants to focus on family, health, and other personal projects. youtube's chief project officer will succeed her. here in france, department store chain gallery lafayette says it is in exclusive talks to sell the iconic php store in paris. the deal will allow them to rebuild cash flow depleted during the covid-19 crisis. bhp murray is located near paris city hall and has annual sales around 350 million euros. a second outlet near versailles will also be part of the sale. mark: that remarkable building full of interesting stuff. thank you very much indeed for the business. great to see you. thank you so much.

in truth or fate, in the news, we were speaking to a journalist from the forbidden stories media investigation group. they have been looking at the global misinformation actor based in israel. >> over six months, the forbidden stories team investigated an ultra-secret israeli company in charge of the global misinformation market. they were charged with manipulating dozens of elections worldwide and even hacking african politicians online, so how did they conduct this investigation? in 2022, journalists from the forbidden stories and story killers team went undercover. one journalist in particular posed as a potential client presenting himself as a representative for an african leader hoping to influence a local election. they called the operation team

jorge, so this underground operation is led by this man right here, whom journalists nicknamed jorge and whom we will be referred to as jorge as well, whose company's main weapon is a tool that is not searchable online. by 2022, the platform already has a catalog of over 330,000 fake accounts online all over facebook, twitter, instagram, amazon, you name it, and these fake accounts were used to post a flurry of comments on social media that would stir up controversy and spread misinformation. here is one example of one of his fake accounts. this account is still active on twitter, and the latest post from this account from february

9, this article by the bbc, an account, however, that has minimal interaction. 10 followers and following zero people online. here is just one example of one of his soldiers on the web. mark: there's one social media campaign in particular launched by team jorge. tell us about that. >> to prove the effectiveness of his digital army to his new potential clients, which were the undercover journalists, jorge agreed to trend this hash tag. the journalist suggested this hash tag named after the social media star in youtube -- in

2022. this campaign was launched at the end of july. the goal was to spread rumors about the fake death, which jorge said the campaign reached over 7.5 million views online. we had some examples of these profiles or tweets with the #r ipimmanuel. these fake profiles that belong to jorge's misinformation bots online, but the journalists were able to identify at least 1800 fake profiles tied to jorge and this social media campaign. mark: he looks really, really

cute. and rip, of course, rest in peace. what happened to the people involved in this social media campaign? >> of course there was collateral damage from this social media campaign. taylor blake, the owner of the account, twitter this, when it went viral, she said someone tweeted rp, and she freaked out and literally ran to see him and he was alive and waiting for cuddles. team jorge sent an apology for any distress caused, so we will continue to see a flurry of explosive findings coming out of this investigation. the latest one today on the manipulation campaign targeting the red cross in burkina faso,

presumably at the behest of the brooking abbe -- birkin -- burkina bay government. mark: thank you very much indeed and thanks to you all for watching wherever you are. stay with us. more to come live from paris. ♪ >> want to know? find out here. >> with france 24, learn to tell what is true and what is fake. >> identify false rumors in european stories. get reliable information about gratian. >> every day, we bring you information that is verified and put into context. >> france 24 is news you can rely on every day across all platforms.

♪

>ñ

02/16/23 02/16/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> it was not like any other earthquake. the roads were destroyed, our houses were demolished. whole cities were flattened. no one knows how we are going to live. amy: as the death toll in turkiye and syria nears 42,000, continuing to riso