📌 Drones Killing Civilians, Canada’s New Leader, More

Calls are growing to control the military use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Africa, which are claiming hundreds of civilian lives.

At least 50 deadly strikes by armed forces in Africa have been confirmed during the three years up to November 2024, with analysts describing a “striking pattern of civilian harm” with little or no accountability.

“This must change,” said Cora Morris of campaign group Drone Wars UK. “Unless the international community moves rapidly towards developing and implementing a new control regime, we are highly likely to see more examples of the killing of civilians from the use of armed drones.”

Although the rapid growth of armed drones deployed by Ukraine and Russia receives significant scrutiny, scant focus is being paid to the escalating use in Africa of a breed of imported cheap drones, such as Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2, said the group in a report just published.

Drone strikes by the Ethiopian armed forces against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and others killed over 490 civilians in 26 attacks. The report said the failure to control the proliferation of armed drones in Africa led to over 940 civilian deaths since November 2021, a figure it described as conservative.

Most armed drones in Africa are imported from Turkey, along with China and Iran, with researchers sounding the alarm over the growing popularity of “medium altitude, long endurance” drones. These can be flown remotely for many hours over a large distance, conducting surveillance as well as airstrikes.

Mark Carney won 86% of the Liberal Party’s leadership votes and will become Canada’s next prime minister.

As expected, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England easily defeated the three other contenders in this race with a crushing majority. “I feel like everything in my life has helped prepare me for this moment,” said Carney after he was declared the incoming prime minister.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that the transition to the new leader “should happen reasonably quickly.” Carney will have to be sworn in as prime minister and is expected to appoint a smaller and leaner cabinet in the next few days.

Carney will have to decide whether to call an early election before Parliament is set to come back on March 24. All political parties have been preparing for a snap election that could be called as early as this week or the next.

Carney said he was ready to take on the fight against US President Donald Trump, who is threatening to impose several rounds of tariffs. “The Americans should make no mistake: in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he added, referencing Canada’s win at the 4 Nations Face-Off last month.

A study has compiled the most and least stressful states for drivers across the country.

A research team at Underwood Law Firm analyzed 18 categories, including infrastructure and commute, to score all 50 states. South Carolina was considered the worst — or most stressful — for drivers because of poor road and bridge conditions, a high number of uninsured drivers and high traffic fatality rates.

Colorado came second, with high car theft, steep insurance costs, a high percentage of DUI (driving under the influence) arrests and a slightly above average percentage of rush hour deaths – 27.79%.

Third was Louisiana, whose roads are ranked 48th of all 50 states. The study says the state has a bridge quality rate of just 38.74%. Arkansas came fourth, with a traffic fatality rate among the nation’s highest, and Delaware was fifth with the highest rush hour traffic deaths out of all 50 states.

At the other end of the scale, drivers in New Hampshire enjoy low rates of crime and collisions, smooth roads, affordable insurance, and efforts to eliminate vehicle fatalities — resulting in a ranking of 50 out of 50 for worst states for drivers, in other words, the best state.

Vermont came second as the best for drivers. The state has adopted programs like “Drive Well Vermont” that promote safe driving behaviors and address distracted and impaired driving. It ranks third for best roads in America. Idaho, Wyoming and Maine took 3rd, 4th and 5th places, respectively.

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian active in Columbia University’s student protests, was arrested by federal immigration authorities.

Khalil’s arrest follows President Donald Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses and comes days after he vowed to deport foreign students and imprison “agitators” involved in “illegal protests.”

Khalil was at the forefront of the student-led anti-war movement at Columbia University last year. He was among those under investigation by a new university committee that brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism, reports say.

“ICE’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud follows the US government’s open repression of student activism and political speech, specifically targeting students at Columbia University for criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza,” Khalil’s attorney Amy Greer said.

A habeas corpus petition was filed on Khalil’s behalf challenging the validity of his arrest and detention, Greer said, adding he does not know where he is detained. His wife tried to visit him at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she was told he was held but was not there.

Trump signed an executive order during his second week in office to “combat antisemitism” on college campuses. The Trump administration pulled $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia University because of what it described as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus.

A first-of-its-kind stem cell transplant has changed the life of a man who was left blind in one eye following a fireworks accident.

On Independence Day 2020, Nick Kharufeh was enjoying a fireworks display in California. A wayward firework exploded near Kharufeh, and bits struck the cornea of his left eye. The accident left Kharufeh — who was 23 years old and six years into training to be a commercial pilot — blind in one eye.

What followed was months of treatments, involving waking up multiple times in the night to apply medicated eye drops, taking drugs to manage the pain, and undergoing a couple of surgeries, which included cleaning up the remaining debris and an unsuccessful attempt at reconstructing his eyelid.

Kharufeh volunteered for a clinical trial of a stem cell therapy. “Cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation” takes stem cells from a healthy eye, grows them into sheets of cells in the lab and transplants them into the damaged eye, where the cells form a surface on which normal tissue grows back.

Five years after his injury, Kharufeh’s vision from his left eye is not perfect, but he says that the injury doesn't cause him issues during his everyday life. If he were to cover his right eye with his hand, he would still be able to locate objects and navigate around. "Now it's the point where I can feel normal.”

Kharufeh was one of 15 patients in the trial, of whom only one did not benefit from the treatment to repair blinding damage to the cornea. Follow-up trials are still to come and could ensure the treatment's official approval.

A federal judge ruled China was liable for $24 billion in damages for hoarding personal protective equipment during Covid.

“This is a landmark victory for Missouri and the United States in the fight to hold China accountable for unleashing Covid on the world,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (pictured) said.

The state of Missouri sued the CCP, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and several other Chinese entities in 2020, alleging that China caused and exacerbated the Covid pandemic by thwarting the production, purchasing, and import and export of PPE.

The lawsuit accused China of nationalizing American factories producing PPE and hoarding protective equipment manufactured or available for sale in the US. The state claimed it spent over $122 million more for PPE and lost over $8 billion in tax revenue.

“China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation,” Bailey said. “We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.”

The attorney general said Missouri would work with the Trump administration to “identify and seize Chinese-owned assets” to collect on the state record-setting $24 billion judgment if needed.

A ‘tender, virtuous, family-orientated’ scammer lured careless men into a honey trap by appearing to be the perfect girlfriend.

The woman behind the scam identified herself as Liu Jia to each of the men, while the houses she asked them to buy were in two residential blocks in Huizhou, China, a city about 56 miles from Shenzhen.

One victim, who uses the alias Atao, said he met Liu on a dating platform in March last year and soon fell for her. “She left me with an impression of being tender, virtuous, family-oriented and considerate. I thought she was a perfect girlfriend,” Atao said. After dating for a month, the couple discussed marriage.

Liu told Atao he must buy a house, and she would go with him to meet his parents before cohabiting. To entice him, Liu offered to take 30,000 yuan ($4,000) out of her own pocket to support him after the down payment. She recommended two blocks in Huizhou, named Jiu Jing Tai and Hao Yi Shang Yuan, said Atao.

Atao bought a flat in one of the two blocks. Liu refused to add her name to the house ownership certificate. Once Atao completed, she could not be contacted, said Atao. Another victim, surnamed Wang, said Liu used the same modus operandi on him.

Apparently, 36 men, all in their 30s and working in Shenzhen, were tricked by Liu. It is not clear whether the police have been called in to investigate. “Liu Jia should be the sales champion of a developer,” joked one. Another person said, “These men are careless. They trusted a person they knew for only a month.”