Social media seems to be buzzing as a miniature Mount Rushmore emerges, which features former US president Donald Trump. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The miniature sculpture was found in the former president’s office when some latest pictures were shared by him with Kyle Rittenhouse and the head of a martial arts organisation. &nbsp;&nbsp;

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Trump’s 9th degree black belt is as real as his Mount Rushmore gizmo.👇Trump’s friggin insane! <a href="https://t.co/M2if3Eci3m">pic.twitter.com/M2if3Eci3m</a>
— CopterDoctor🚁🩺 Son Of WWII ANTIFA🚫Lists (@copter_chief) <a href="https://twitter.com/copter_chief/status/1463816389899210754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
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In the miniature Mount Rushmore, he is shown beside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-a-precautionary-measure-us-to-restrict-travel-over-fears-of-new-covid-19-variant-432251" hreflang="en">As a 'precautionary measure', US to restrict travel over fears of new variant</a>

The former president was given the “Mount Trumpmore” piece by South Dakota governor Kristi Noem last year. &nbsp;

The miniature has been made by Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby. Its provenance was confirmed to the Daily Beast. Leuning, a South Dakota artist, said, “Cool. That’s our piece. Definitely. That’s pretty cool.” &nbsp;

Leuning was glad to see the maquette on display at Mar-a-Lago as often “stuff ends up in a closet”. &nbsp;

In July 2020, Trump visited South Dakota for a speech in front of Mount Rushmore. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-coronavirus-variant-not-in-us-right-now-says-anthony-fauci-432210" hreflang="en">New coronavirus variant not in US right now, says Anthony Fauci</a>

Several comments, memes, etc have come up on social media over the development. &nbsp;

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"If Trump returns to power, expect Mount Rushmore to become Mount Trumpmore," <a href="https://twitter.com/Jacopo_della_Q?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jacopo_della_Q</a>. 
 
Well, we already have a Mount Trumpmore here in Austin, sort of⬇️. <a href="https://t.co/DMiGTXQnNP">pic.twitter.com/DMiGTXQnNP</a>
— Clam-flavored condiments &amp; drinks? No, no, no... (@lindajaniebrou1) <a href="https://twitter.com/lindajaniebrou1/status/1464281022510604290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
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A user said, “If Trump returns to power, expect Mount Rushmore to become Mount Trumpmore.” &nbsp;

In a tweet, another user, said, “Trump’s 9th degree black belt is as real as his Mount Rushmore gizmo. Trump’s friggin insane!” &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Social media seems to be buzzing as a miniature Mount Rushmore emerges, which features former US president Donald Trump. The miniature sculpture was found in the former president’s office when some latest pictures were shared by him with Kyle Rittenhouse and the head of a martial arts organisation.

Social media seems to be buzzing as a miniature Mount Rushmore emerges, which features former US president Donald Trump. The miniature sculpture was found in the former president’s office when some latest pictures were shared by him with Kyle Rittenhouse and the head of a martial arts organisation. Trump’s 9th degree black belt is as real as his Mount Rushmore gizmo.👇Trump’s friggin insane! pic.twitter.com/M2if3Eci3m — CopterDoctor🚁🩺 Son Of WWII ANTIFA🚫Lists (@copter_chief) November 25, 2021 × In the miniature Mount Rushmore, he is shown beside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Also Read: As a 'precautionary measure', US to restrict travel over fears of new variant The former president was given the “Mount Trumpmore” piece by South Dakota governor Kristi Noem last year. The miniature has been made by Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby. Its provenance was confirmed to the Daily Beast. Leuning, a South Dakota artist, said, “Cool. That’s our piece. Definitely. That’s pretty cool.” Leuning was glad to see the maquette on display at Mar-a-Lago as often “stuff ends up in a closet”. In July 2020, Trump visited South Dakota for a speech in front of Mount Rushmore. Also Read: New coronavirus variant not in US right now, says Anthony Fauci Several comments, memes, etc have come up on social media over the development. "If Trump returns to power, expect Mount Rushmore to become Mount Trumpmore," @Jacopo_della_Q. Well, we already have a Mount Trumpmore here in Austin, sort of⬇️. pic.twitter.com/DMiGTXQnNP — Clam-flavored condiments & drinks? No, no, no... (@lindajaniebrou1) November 26, 2021 × A user said, “If Trump returns to power, expect Mount Rushmore to become Mount Trumpmore.” In a tweet, another user, said, “Trump’s 9th degree black belt is as real as his Mount Rushmore gizmo. Trump’s friggin insane!” (With inputs from agencies)

Social media erupts as Trump gets featured on miniature Mount Rushmore

As the concerns over the efficiency of vaccines against the new variant emerges, BioNTech says it can update the version of its vaccine within 100 days if Omicron, the new variant first detected in southern Africa, is found to reduce existing immunity. &nbsp;

The company says it will not just produce but also ship it in the timeline. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-virus-variant-detected-in-europe-as-belgium-reports-first-case-432173">New virus variant detected in Europe as Belgium reports first case</a>

Investigations are already on to know that the vaccine, which has been developed by the German biotechnology company in association with US drugmaker Pfizer, works well against the variant or not. &nbsp;

Omicron has caused concern as it has high number of mutations. It seems to have been transmitting more quickly as well. &nbsp;

According to the company, it will ascertain in two weeks on the basis of lab-based experiments that its current vaccine is still effective against the B.1.1.529 variant, which has been named Omicron by the World Health Organization. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-a-precautionary-measure-us-to-restrict-travel-over-fears-of-new-covid-19-variant-432251" hreflang="en">As a 'precautionary measure', US to restrict travel over fears of new COVID-19 variant</a>

To make it more efficient against the new variant, BioNTech said it can tweak its vaccine if required. &nbsp;

In a statement, the company, said, “Pfizer and BioNTech have taken actions months ago to be able to adapt the mRNA vaccine within six weeks and ship initial batches within 100 days in the event of an escape variant.” &nbsp; &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

As the concerns over the efficiency of vaccines against the new variant emerges, BioNTech says it can update the version of its vaccine within 100 days if Omicron, the new variant first detected in southern Africa, is found to reduce existing immunity.

As the concerns over the efficiency of vaccines against the new variant emerges, BioNTech says it can update the version of its vaccine within 100 days if Omicron, the new variant first detected in southern Africa, is found to reduce existing immunity. The company says it will not just produce but also ship it in the timeline. Also Read: New virus variant detected in Europe as Belgium reports first case Investigations are already on to know that the vaccine, which has been developed by the German biotechnology company in association with US drugmaker Pfizer, works well against the variant or not. Omicron has caused concern as it has high number of mutations. It seems to have been transmitting more quickly as well. According to the company, it will ascertain in two weeks on the basis of lab-based experiments that its current vaccine is still effective against the B.1.1.529 variant, which has been named Omicron by the World Health Organization. Also Read: As a 'precautionary measure', US to restrict travel over fears of new COVID-19 variant To make it more efficient against the new variant, BioNTech said it can tweak its vaccine if required. In a statement, the company, said, “Pfizer and BioNTech have taken actions months ago to be able to adapt the mRNA vaccine within six weeks and ship initial batches within 100 days in the event of an escape variant.” (With inputs from agencies)

If needed, BioNTech to update its Covid jab within 100 days amid efficiency concerns against Omicron  

Covid crisis seems to be deepening around the world. For last two years, the pandemic has led to loss of several jobs, lives, etc. Numerous attempts have been made to find a solution but to no avail. &nbsp;

Beginning with lockdown, several governments have halted international travels, imposed curfews, tighten border controls, made quarantine centres, build makeshift hospitals, carried out vaccination drives and what not. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Several scientists have also been spending numerous hours to understand the virus in the search for a solution. &nbsp;

But every time, a new variant comes and the world goes back to square one. Till now, the world has seen several variants of concern, such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. And now, its Omicron. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/neither-nu-nor-xi-who-skips-two-greek-letters-for-naming-new-covid-variant-omicron-432328">Neither Nu nor Xi: WHO skips two Greek letters for naming new Covid variant</a>

The variants have also emerged in different parts of the world, such as the UK, southern Africa, etc. &nbsp;

For last two years, masks have become the closest companions of the people. The craze has reached to the level of making it a fashion accessory. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Since the Covid started, these couple of years have been hard on many people as they forced people to restrict to homes, risk their lives in going out or understand the meaning of losing a loved one&nbsp;and not even being able to give a proper farewell. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The whole exercise seems to be a vicious circle as not everybody is following norms and the number of new cases never cease to exist. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/omicron-what-does-variant-of-concern-mean-432361" hreflang="en">Omicron: What does variant of concern mean?</a>

It seems only a mere reduction in the cases is just temporary and an indication that a new variant may crop up somewhere soon. The same has been happening unabated for last two years. &nbsp;

Every new variant has a high number of mutations, which makes it more deadly and transmissible. It also many a time makes the vaccine less effective. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The world has already witnessed several waves of infections. So, the question on several minds now is that will it ever get solved? &nbsp;

Well, this is a tough one and no one other than the future can decipher this deadly code.&nbsp;

Covid crisis seems to be deepening around the world. For last two years, the pandemic has led to loss of several jobs, lives, etc. Numerous attempts have been made to find a solution but to no avail.

Covid crisis seems to be deepening around the world. For last two years, the pandemic has led to loss of several jobs, lives, etc. Numerous attempts have been made to find a solution but to no avail. Beginning with lockdown, several governments have halted international travels, imposed curfews, tighten border controls, made quarantine centres, build makeshift hospitals, carried out vaccination drives and what not. Several scientists have also been spending numerous hours to understand the virus in the search for a solution. But every time, a new variant comes and the world goes back to square one. Till now, the world has seen several variants of concern, such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. And now, its Omicron. Also Read: Neither Nu nor Xi: WHO skips two Greek letters for naming new Covid variant The variants have also emerged in different parts of the world, such as the UK, southern Africa, etc. For last two years, masks have become the closest companions of the people. The craze has reached to the level of making it a fashion accessory. Since the Covid started, these couple of years have been hard on many people as they forced people to restrict to homes, risk their lives in going out or understand the meaning of losing a loved one and not even being able to give a proper farewell. The whole exercise seems to be a vicious circle as not everybody is following norms and the number of new cases never cease to exist. Also Read | Omicron: What does variant of concern mean? It seems only a mere reduction in the cases is just temporary and an indication that a new variant may crop up somewhere soon. The same has been happening unabated for last two years. Every new variant has a high number of mutations, which makes it more deadly and transmissible. It also many a time makes the vaccine less effective. The world has already witnessed several waves of infections. So, the question on several minds now is that will it ever get solved? Well, this is a tough one and no one other than the future can decipher this deadly code.

With emergence of new variants, will world get respite from Covid crisis ever?

Migrant crisis has been worsening in different parts of the world. Be it the US-Mexico border, English Channel or Mediterranean Sea, many migrants belonging to different countries travel dangerously to reach their destination every year. &nbsp;

Several people have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, English Channel and other waterways after their boat capsized while many have been sent back after reaching the border. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Many countries like Greece have also build walls to stop the movement of the migrants. The United States have also built several camps to keep a check on migrant crisis. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/fresh-violence-in-darfur-adds-to-sudans-crises-432238" hreflang="en">Fresh violence in Darfur adds to Sudan’s crises</a>

In the Americas, people from various poor countries like El Savador, Colombia, Mexico, etc travel on foot, buses, etc to reach US border while in Africa, many of the migrants, who have been fighting hunger, common coups, violent conflicts and others, make attempts to reach the Mediterranean Sea through various land routes and then hitch a ride on a boat to reach Europe. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Many people also try to reach Australia or Canada from various regions. &nbsp;

But not everybody is lucky. Some people drown while others are caught. The people, who somehow reach these countries, live in fear of getting caught and deported someday. Many are forced to take up petty jobs or end up getting exploited. &nbsp;&nbsp;

At the end, very few of these people get to live their dream or even get a fair outcome of the trouble undertaken to travel long distances in inhumane conditions. &nbsp;

The million-dollar question is what drives them to do this and why the so-called wealthy nations not doing anything to solve this crisis. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/france-britain-agree-to-step-up-efforts-to-limit-channel-crossings-431979" hreflang="en">France, Britain agree to step up efforts to limit channel crossings</a>

The answer to the first question is simple, in several nations in the South America and Africa, there is poverty, violence, hunger and less opportunities to live a life with dignity. &nbsp;

The wealthy nations are just the opposite. They have everything one can dream of. But just lack the will to help. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Instead of making the world a better place to live, several countries have been making concerted efforts to ensure there is turmoil in different parts of many continents so that they are pursuing their agenda or fulfill their vested interests. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In 2015, Europe was moved after immense criticism over the migrant issue after a dead body of a three-year-old Syrian child washed ashore. The images of the dead body of Alan Kurdi on the beach forced Europe to open its doors for the refugees of the Syrian war. &nbsp;

Are the wealthy nations or the world as a whole waiting for more such bodies or will take action before it’s too late. Only time can solve this riddle.&nbsp;

Migrant crisis has been worsening in different parts of the world. Be it the US-Mexico border, English Channel or Mediterranean Sea, many migrants belonging to different countries travel dangerously to reach their destination every year.

Migrant crisis has been worsening in different parts of the world. Be it the US-Mexico border, English Channel or Mediterranean Sea, many migrants belonging to different countries travel dangerously to reach their destination every year. Several people have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, English Channel and other waterways after their boat capsized while many have been sent back after reaching the border. Many countries like Greece have also build walls to stop the movement of the migrants. The United States have also built several camps to keep a check on migrant crisis. Also Read: Fresh violence in Darfur adds to Sudan’s crises In the Americas, people from various poor countries like El Savador, Colombia, Mexico, etc travel on foot, buses, etc to reach US border while in Africa, many of the migrants, who have been fighting hunger, common coups, violent conflicts and others, make attempts to reach the Mediterranean Sea through various land routes and then hitch a ride on a boat to reach Europe. Many people also try to reach Australia or Canada from various regions. But not everybody is lucky. Some people drown while others are caught. The people, who somehow reach these countries, live in fear of getting caught and deported someday. Many are forced to take up petty jobs or end up getting exploited. At the end, very few of these people get to live their dream or even get a fair outcome of the trouble undertaken to travel long distances in inhumane conditions. The million-dollar question is what drives them to do this and why the so-called wealthy nations not doing anything to solve this crisis. Also Read: France, Britain agree to step up efforts to limit channel crossings The answer to the first question is simple, in several nations in the South America and Africa, there is poverty, violence, hunger and less opportunities to live a life with dignity. The wealthy nations are just the opposite. They have everything one can dream of. But just lack the will to help. Instead of making the world a better place to live, several countries have been making concerted efforts to ensure there is turmoil in different parts of many continents so that they are pursuing their agenda or fulfill their vested interests. In 2015, Europe was moved after immense criticism over the migrant issue after a dead body of a three-year-old Syrian child washed ashore. The images of the dead body of Alan Kurdi on the beach forced Europe to open its doors for the refugees of the Syrian war. Are the wealthy nations or the world as a whole waiting for more such bodies or will take action before it’s too late. Only time can solve this riddle.

What has led to migrant crisis around world?

The thought of combining a printer (the bane of office workers) with the bacterium E. coli (the scourge of romaine lettuce) may seem an odd, if not unpleasant, collaboration.

But scientists have recently melded the virtues of the infuriating tool and of the toxic microbe to produce an ink that is alive, made entirely from microbes. The microbial ink flows like toothpaste under pressure and can be 3D printed into various tiny shapes — a circle, a square and a cone — all of which hold their form and glisten like Jell-O.

The researchers describe their recipe for their programmable, microbial ink in a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. The material is still being developed, but the authors suggest that the ink could be a crucial renewable building material, able to grow and heal itself and ideal for constructing sustainable homes on Earth and in space.

This new substance is not the first living ink. Scientists have previously created printable gels that were cocktails of bacteria and polymers that helped provide structure when printed. One such ink contained hyaluronic acid, a seaweed extract and fumed silica — all agents that made the material thicker and more viscous.

But the new substance contains no additional polymers; it is produced entirely from genetically engineered E. coli bacteria. The researchers induce bacterial cultures to grow the ink, which is also made of living bacteria cells. When the ink is harvested from the liquid culture, it becomes firm like gelatin and can be plugged into 3D printers and printed into living structures, which do not grow further and remain in their printed forms.

“They developed this really nice engineered platform where the microbes secrete their own ink,” said Sujit Datta, a chemical and biological engineer at Princeton University who was not involved with the research. “The microbes are creating the material themselves — you just have to feed them and keep them happy.”

Bacteria may seem an unconventional building block. But microbes are a crucial component of products such as perfumes and vitamins, and scientists have already engineered microbes to produce biodegradable plastics.

A material like a microbial ink has more grandiose ambitions, according to Neel Joshi, a synthetic biologist at Northeastern University and an author on the new paper. Such inks are an expanding focus of the field of engineered living materials. Unlike structures cast from concrete or plastic, living systems would be autonomous, adaptive to environmental cues and able to regenerate — at least, that is the aspirational goal, Joshi said.

“Imagine creating buildings that heal themselves,” Datta said.

To Joshi, the best analogy may be a seed’s transformation into a tree. A seed has all the information it needs to harvest the energy of the sun and organize its growth and development into something as complex and grand as a tree. In an engineered living system, a single engineered cell could function like a seed.

Microbes, on their own, aren’t great at making clearly defined shapes in three dimensions. “Think of pond scum,” Joshi said. “That’s kind of the level of complexity that bacteria are comfortable with, in terms of making shapes.”

Typically, microbial inks rely on a scaffold of polymers to stiffen their scummy forms. But polymers have their own limitations and can alter the mechanical properties of the ink in unwanted ways, Datta said. Also, the polymers must be biocompatible, so the microbes do not die. And synthetic polymers, such as polyethylene, are derived from oil and are not renewable.

Forgoing polymers and using only microbes “provides a lot more tunability in what you can print,” said R. Kōnane Bay, a soft-matter physicist and an incoming assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, who was not involved with the research.

Many engineered living materials take the form of hydrogels, structures that can absorb large quantities of water, like gelatin. In 2018, Joshi and Anna Duraj-Thatte, an engineer at Virginia Tech and an author on the new paper, successfully created a hydrogel entirely from E. coli that could grow and regenerate.

Although the hydrogel could be squeezed through a syringe, it was not stiff enough to stand on its own. “You could not make any structures,” Duraj-Thatte said.

The researchers needed to firm up the substance. “We came up with this strategy where we use fibrin, which is a polymer used in blood-clotting in humans and many other animals,” said team member Avinash Manjula-Basavanna, who completed the work while he was a researcher at Harvard University.

The researchers genetically engineered the E. coli to produce a protein polymer from fibrin designed to link into a meshlike network — imagine a heavy duty cargo net. This makes the material stiff enough to print while still able to flow from the nozzle of the 3D printer.

The authors took their microbial ink to 3D printers at the lab of Yu Shrike Zhang, a bioengineer at Harvard Medical School, which often uses the printers for tissue-engineering mammalian cells. The lab was one of the few brave enough to invite bacteria into its sanitary printing space.

“A lab that their bread and butter is just doing tissue engineering with mammalian cells would be kind of gun-shy about bringing bacteria anywhere near there,” Joshi said.

“It’s a lab that will try many different things,” Duraj-Thatte said.

The researchers printed the microbial ink into a number of shapes and patterns to test its ability to hold its shape: a lattice grid, a box, a ring and a cone that looked almost like an icicle. The ink was squeezed like toothpaste from the printer but did not ooze or melt once printed, passing all the tests.

They also put the ink to a fidelity test to see how far a strand of the ink would stretch without breaking. In the test, the printer’s nozzle extruded a half-millimeter-thick strand of ink across a line of successive pillars, each one a greater distance from the last — intended to show how far between pillars the ink strand could hold without breaking.

The strand could support its own weight between pillars that were 16 millimeters apart: a success. When Duraj-Thatte and Manjula-Basavanna recorded the test in real time in the lab, they said, they began screaming with excitement about the proof that the ink worked. (The video that accompanied the published study did not include audio.)

To test whether the printed structures could perform functions, Duraj-Thatte and Manjula-Basavanna also remixed the ink with other microbes that had been engineered to perform specific tasks. In one therapeutic test, the printed ink released the anti-cancer drug azurin when exposed to a chemical. In another test, the printed ink successfully trapped the toxic chemical BPA, suggesting that the material could potentially remove harmful contaminants from its surroundings.

The ink still needs a lot of work. It can’t withstand drying out, and is not currently stable enough to be the sole basis of larger constructions, such as a house fit for a human; the researchers are working on ways to make more robust printed structures. But researchers see few limits to its possible future applications.

Duraj-Thatte hopes to see the ink combined with tissue engineering, as it can be customized for medical applications. Joshi suggested the ink could eventually offer a greener, renewable way to construct buildings. Bay wondered if the ink could be created from other bacteria such as Pseudomonas putida, which can clean up the toxin phenol. “We can think about making them into biosensors,” Bay suggested.

Manjula-Basavanna is shooting for the moon, Earth’s satellite, where there are no forests to harvest for wood and no easy way to send bulk building materials. There, he said, the ink might be used as a self-regenerating substance to help build habitats on other planets, as well as places on Earth.

“There is a lot of work to be done to make it scalable and economic,” Datta conceded. But, he noted, just five years ago creating robust structures out of microbes was unimaginable; conceivably, self-healing buildings could be a reality in our lifetime.

“It’s hard to project into the future,” Datta said. “But given the pace in this area, the future looks very bright.”

The thought of combining a printer (the bane of office workers) with the bacterium E. coli (the scourge of romaine lettuce) may seem an odd, if not unpleasant, collaboration.

The thought of combining a printer (the bane of office workers) with the bacterium E. coli (the scourge of romaine lettuce) may seem an odd, if not unpleasant, collaboration. But scientists have recently melded the virtues of the infuriating tool and of the toxic microbe to produce an ink that is alive, made entirely from microbes. The microbial ink flows like toothpaste under pressure and can be 3D printed into various tiny shapes — a circle, a square and a cone — all of which hold their form and glisten like Jell-O. The researchers describe their recipe for their programmable, microbial ink in a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. The material is still being developed, but the authors suggest that the ink could be a crucial renewable building material, able to grow and heal itself and ideal for constructing sustainable homes on Earth and in space. This new substance is not the first living ink. Scientists have previously created printable gels that were cocktails of bacteria and polymers that helped provide structure when printed. One such ink contained hyaluronic acid, a seaweed extract and fumed silica — all agents that made the material thicker and more viscous. But the new substance contains no additional polymers; it is produced entirely from genetically engineered E. coli bacteria. The researchers induce bacterial cultures to grow the ink, which is also made of living bacteria cells. When the ink is harvested from the liquid culture, it becomes firm like gelatin and can be plugged into 3D printers and printed into living structures, which do not grow further and remain in their printed forms. “They developed this really nice engineered platform where the microbes secrete their own ink,” said Sujit Datta, a chemical and biological engineer at Princeton University who was not involved with the research. “The microbes are creating the material themselves — you just have to feed them and keep them happy.” Bacteria may seem an unconventional building block. But microbes are a crucial component of products such as perfumes and vitamins, and scientists have already engineered microbes to produce biodegradable plastics. A material like a microbial ink has more grandiose ambitions, according to Neel Joshi, a synthetic biologist at Northeastern University and an author on the new paper. Such inks are an expanding focus of the field of engineered living materials. Unlike structures cast from concrete or plastic, living systems would be autonomous, adaptive to environmental cues and able to regenerate — at least, that is the aspirational goal, Joshi said. “Imagine creating buildings that heal themselves,” Datta said. To Joshi, the best analogy may be a seed’s transformation into a tree. A seed has all the information it needs to harvest the energy of the sun and organize its growth and development into something as complex and grand as a tree. In an engineered living system, a single engineered cell could function like a seed. Microbes, on their own, aren’t great at making clearly defined shapes in three dimensions. “Think of pond scum,” Joshi said. “That’s kind of the level of complexity that bacteria are comfortable with, in terms of making shapes.” Typically, microbial inks rely on a scaffold of polymers to stiffen their scummy forms. But polymers have their own limitations and can alter the mechanical properties of the ink in unwanted ways, Datta said. Also, the polymers must be biocompatible, so the microbes do not die. And synthetic polymers, such as polyethylene, are derived from oil and are not renewable. Forgoing polymers and using only microbes “provides a lot more tunability in what you can print,” said R. Kōnane Bay, a soft-matter physicist and an incoming assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, who was not involved with the research. Many engineered living materials take the form of hydrogels, structures that can absorb large quantities of water, like gelatin. In 2018, Joshi and Anna Duraj-Thatte, an engineer at Virginia Tech and an author on the new paper, successfully created a hydrogel entirely from E. coli that could grow and regenerate. Although the hydrogel could be squeezed through a syringe, it was not stiff enough to stand on its own. “You could not make any structures,” Duraj-Thatte said. The researchers needed to firm up the substance. “We came up with this strategy where we use fibrin, which is a polymer used in blood-clotting in humans and many other animals,” said team member Avinash Manjula-Basavanna, who completed the work while he was a researcher at Harvard University. The researchers genetically engineered the E. coli to produce a protein polymer from fibrin designed to link into a meshlike network — imagine a heavy duty cargo net. This makes the material stiff enough to print while still able to flow from the nozzle of the 3D printer. The authors took their microbial ink to 3D printers at the lab of Yu Shrike Zhang, a bioengineer at Harvard Medical School, which often uses the printers for tissue-engineering mammalian cells. The lab was one of the few brave enough to invite bacteria into its sanitary printing space. “A lab that their bread and butter is just doing tissue engineering with mammalian cells would be kind of gun-shy about bringing bacteria anywhere near there,” Joshi said. “It’s a lab that will try many different things,” Duraj-Thatte said. The researchers printed the microbial ink into a number of shapes and patterns to test its ability to hold its shape: a lattice grid, a box, a ring and a cone that looked almost like an icicle. The ink was squeezed like toothpaste from the printer but did not ooze or melt once printed, passing all the tests. They also put the ink to a fidelity test to see how far a strand of the ink would stretch without breaking. In the test, the printer’s nozzle extruded a half-millimeter-thick strand of ink across a line of successive pillars, each one a greater distance from the last — intended to show how far between pillars the ink strand could hold without breaking. The strand could support its own weight between pillars that were 16 millimeters apart: a success. When Duraj-Thatte and Manjula-Basavanna recorded the test in real time in the lab, they said, they began screaming with excitement about the proof that the ink worked. (The video that accompanied the published study did not include audio.) To test whether the printed structures could perform functions, Duraj-Thatte and Manjula-Basavanna also remixed the ink with other microbes that had been engineered to perform specific tasks. In one therapeutic test, the printed ink released the anti-cancer drug azurin when exposed to a chemical. In another test, the printed ink successfully trapped the toxic chemical BPA, suggesting that the material could potentially remove harmful contaminants from its surroundings. The ink still needs a lot of work. It can’t withstand drying out, and is not currently stable enough to be the sole basis of larger constructions, such as a house fit for a human; the researchers are working on ways to make more robust printed structures. But researchers see few limits to its possible future applications. Duraj-Thatte hopes to see the ink combined with tissue engineering, as it can be customized for medical applications. Joshi suggested the ink could eventually offer a greener, renewable way to construct buildings. Bay wondered if the ink could be created from other bacteria such as Pseudomonas putida, which can clean up the toxin phenol. “We can think about making them into biosensors,” Bay suggested. Manjula-Basavanna is shooting for the moon, Earth’s satellite, where there are no forests to harvest for wood and no easy way to send bulk building materials. There, he said, the ink might be used as a self-regenerating substance to help build habitats on other planets, as well as places on Earth. “There is a lot of work to be done to make it scalable and economic,” Datta conceded. But, he noted, just five years ago creating robust structures out of microbes was unimaginable; conceivably, self-healing buildings could be a reality in our lifetime. “It’s hard to project into the future,” Datta said. “But given the pace in this area, the future looks very bright.”

This ink is alive and made entirely of microbes

Naming can get tricky sometimes even when someone is following a sequence of letters. Although it shouldn’t happen usually, it can at times. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The same holds true for the naming of new Covid variant Omicron, where two letters in the Greek alphabet, Nu and Xi, were skipped for various reasons by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday. &nbsp;

The new Covid variant, which was first detected in southern Africa, has taken the world by surprise.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/as-new-covid-variant-emerges-indian-pm-modi-chairs-vital-meeting-to-assess-situation-432294">As new Covid variant emerges, Indian PM chairs meeting to assess situation</a> &nbsp;

Since its emergence, the world has been taking several kinds of steps, such as imposing travel curbs and tightening border controls, to contain the spread of the new variant. It has already been found in Israel and some countries of Europe. &nbsp;

The process of choosing name for this new Covid variant also wasn’t an easy task for the authorities even when they were following a sequence. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The officials seem to have skipped ‘Nu’ in order to avoid confusion with the word “new” and ‘Xi’ to its similarity to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s name, speculated experts. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/who-warns-against-travel-curbs-due-to-new-variant-says-closely-monitoring-432286" hreflang="en">WHO warns against travel curbs due to new variant, says 'closely monitoring'</a>

US Senator Ted Cruz retweeted an editor of Telegraph’s post that cited a source at WHO saying Xi was skipped to “avoid stigmatising a region.” &nbsp;

“If the WHO is this scared of the Chinese Communist Party, how can they be trusted to call them out next time they’re trying to cover up a catastrophic global pandemic?” Cruz said. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Naming can get tricky sometimes even when someone is following a sequence of letters. Although it shouldn’t happen usually, it can at times. The same holds true for the naming of new Covid variant Omicron, where two letters in the Greek alphabet, Nu and Xi, were skipped for various reasons by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.

Naming can get tricky sometimes even when someone is following a sequence of letters. Although it shouldn’t happen usually, it can at times. The same holds true for the naming of new Covid variant Omicron, where two letters in the Greek alphabet, Nu and Xi, were skipped for various reasons by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday. The new Covid variant, which was first detected in southern Africa, has taken the world by surprise. Also Read: As new Covid variant emerges, Indian PM chairs meeting to assess situation Since its emergence, the world has been taking several kinds of steps, such as imposing travel curbs and tightening border controls, to contain the spread of the new variant. It has already been found in Israel and some countries of Europe. The process of choosing name for this new Covid variant also wasn’t an easy task for the authorities even when they were following a sequence. The officials seem to have skipped ‘Nu’ in order to avoid confusion with the word “new” and ‘Xi’ to its similarity to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s name, speculated experts. Also Read: WHO warns against travel curbs due to new variant, says 'closely monitoring' US Senator Ted Cruz retweeted an editor of Telegraph’s post that cited a source at WHO saying Xi was skipped to “avoid stigmatising a region.” “If the WHO is this scared of the Chinese Communist Party, how can they be trusted to call them out next time they’re trying to cover up a catastrophic global pandemic?” Cruz said. (With inputs from agencies)

Neither Nu nor Xi: WHO skips two Greek letters for naming new Covid variant Omicron  

In a stern advisory, Indian government has told public on Friday that don’t subscribe to the satellite-based internet services of Starlink till it gets a licence in the country. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Starlink, which is a satellite broadband arm of Elon Musk-led SpaceX, is advertising about its services. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Starlink has been directed by the Department of Telecom to follow the regulatory framework for offering satellite-based services. It has also been told to refrain from booking or rendering the services in India "with immediate effect". &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/as-new-covid-variant-emerges-indian-pm-modi-chairs-vital-meeting-to-assess-situation-432294" hreflang="en">As new Covid variant emerges, Indian PM Modi chairs vital meeting to assess situation</a>

The government, in a statement, said that it has taken notice of Starlink starting pre-selling or booking of the satellite-based services in the country. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The Department of Telecom also observed that it is also evident from Starlink’s website, which says internet services can be booked by users in India. &nbsp;

"Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India has pointed out that 'Starlink Internet Services' is not licensed to offer satellite-based internet services in India being advertised to the public," the statement said. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/reserve-bank-of-india-rejects-proposal-on-corporate-ownership-of-banks-432276" hreflang="en">Reserve Bank of India rejects proposal on corporate ownership of banks</a>

"It is hereby informed to the public at large that the said company has not obtained any license/authorisation for rendering satellite-based internet services that are being booked on their website," it said. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The official statement said that as Starlink is not a licensee, "the public is advised not to subscribe to Starlink services being advertised." &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

In a stern advisory, Indian government has told public on Friday that don’t subscribe to the satellite-based internet services of Starlink till it gets a licence in the country.

In a stern advisory, Indian government has told public on Friday that don’t subscribe to the satellite-based internet services of Starlink till it gets a licence in the country. Starlink, which is a satellite broadband arm of Elon Musk-led SpaceX, is advertising about its services. Starlink has been directed by the Department of Telecom to follow the regulatory framework for offering satellite-based services. It has also been told to refrain from booking or rendering the services in India "with immediate effect". Also Read: As new Covid variant emerges, Indian PM Modi chairs vital meeting to assess situation The government, in a statement, said that it has taken notice of Starlink starting pre-selling or booking of the satellite-based services in the country. The Department of Telecom also observed that it is also evident from Starlink’s website, which says internet services can be booked by users in India. "Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India has pointed out that 'Starlink Internet Services' is not licensed to offer satellite-based internet services in India being advertised to the public," the statement said. Also Read: Reserve Bank of India rejects proposal on corporate ownership of banks "It is hereby informed to the public at large that the said company has not obtained any license/authorisation for rendering satellite-based internet services that are being booked on their website," it said. The official statement said that as Starlink is not a licensee, "the public is advised not to subscribe to Starlink services being advertised." (With inputs from agencies)

Don’t subscribe Elon Musk-backed Starlink services till it gets licence, Indian government tells public

We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From&nbsp;US threatening escalation with Iran at IAEA next month to&nbsp;National Geographic’s famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' arriving in Italy,&nbsp;we have it all.

You can also read about&nbsp;Cummins getting named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain and&nbsp;UNESCO member states adopting the first global agreement on artificial intelligence ethics.

Please click on the headline to read the full story.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-threatens-escalation-with-iran-at-iaea-next-month-if-tehran-does-not-cooperate-431989">US threatens escalation with Iran at IAEA next month</a>

<img alt="Brief 2" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="82350266-a9e9-40b5-a5fa-131b6328debc" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/DH1.JPG" />

In a move that could potentially undermine talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the US on Thursday threatened to confront Iran next month at the IAEA if the country does not cooperate more with the watchdog.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/national-geographics-famous-green-eyed-afghan-girl-arrived-in-italy-after-evacuation-431991">National Geographic’s famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' arrived in Italy</a>

<img alt="Brief 3" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6bb32e66-3f7e-4b7b-be0f-75e85239e7dd" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/DH2.JPG" />

The famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl', who was featured in National Geographic magazine’s iconic picture, has arrived in Italy. She was evacuated from war-torn Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/after-paine-resigns-amid-scandal-cummins-gets-named-as-australias-47th-male-test-captain-431995">After Paine resigns, Cummins gets named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain</a>

<img alt="Brief 5" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c0c5a10b-ae59-4f29-8f4a-a2107cdc7227" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/DH3.JPG" />

Pat Cummins has been named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain. The move can be seen as a&nbsp;major break from tradition for the top job in Australian cricket.&nbsp;After getting the job, Cummins paid tribute to the leadership of Tim Paine.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/unesco-member-states-adopt-the-first-global-agreement-on-artificial-intelligence-ethics-431996">UNESCO member states adopt the first global agreement on artificial intelligence ethics</a>

<img alt="Brief 4" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b6e82365-6042-4b79-a482-5120e4f730b3" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/DH4.JPG" />

UNESCO has adopted the world's first international ethics guidelines for artificial intelligence, which prohibit the use of the technology for "social scoring" and mass surveillance.

&nbsp;

Watch:&nbsp;New COVID variant discovered in South Africa

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We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From US threatening escalation with Iran at IAEA next month to National Geographic’s famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' arriving in Italy, we have it all.

We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From US threatening escalation with Iran at IAEA next month to National Geographic’s famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' arriving in Italy, we have it all. You can also read about Cummins getting named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain and UNESCO member states adopting the first global agreement on artificial intelligence ethics. Please click on the headline to read the full story. US threatens escalation with Iran at IAEA next month In a move that could potentially undermine talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the US on Thursday threatened to confront Iran next month at the IAEA if the country does not cooperate more with the watchdog. National Geographic’s famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl' arrived in Italy The famous green-eyed 'Afghan Girl', who was featured in National Geographic magazine’s iconic picture, has arrived in Italy. She was evacuated from war-torn Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country. After Paine resigns, Cummins gets named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain Pat Cummins has been named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain. The move can be seen as a major break from tradition for the top job in Australian cricket. After getting the job, Cummins paid tribute to the leadership of Tim Paine. UNESCO member states adopt the first global agreement on artificial intelligence ethics UNESCO has adopted the world's first international ethics guidelines for artificial intelligence, which prohibit the use of the technology for "social scoring" and mass surveillance. Watch: New COVID variant discovered in South Africa ×

Morning news brief: US threatens Iran, Cummins named Test captain and more

In what can be called a major break from tradition for the top job in Australian cricket, Pat Cummins has been named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain. &nbsp;&nbsp;

After getting the job, Cummins paid tribute to the leadership of Tim Paine. &nbsp;

After Paine’s resignation last week, former captain Steve Smith will serve as Cummins’ deputy. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/australia-mulling-diplomatic-boycott-of-beijing-2022-winter-olympics-431788" hreflang="en">Australia mulling diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics</a>

Cummins was one of the favourites to succeed Paine. He was made the sole vice-captain a year ago. &nbsp;

Since being stripped of the captaincy after the ball tampering scandal in 2018, this is Smith’s first official leadership position. He may also get to lead the team if Cummins misses a game. &nbsp;

The change of guard comes when the national men’s team is going through a delicate time. &nbsp;&nbsp;

“I am honoured to accept this role ahead of what will be a massive Ashes summer. I hope I can provide the same leadership Tim [Paine] has given the group in the past few years,” Cummins said. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/australian-summer-of-tennis-2022-schedule-announced-australian-open-from-jan-17-431811" hreflang="en">Australian 'Summer of Tennis 2022' schedule announced, Australian Open from Jan 17</a>

“With Steve and I as captains, a number of very senior players in this squad and some great young talent coming through we are a strong and tightly-knit group. This is an unexpected privilege which I am very grateful for and am very much looking forward to,” added Cummins. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;&nbsp;

In what can be called a major break from tradition for the top job in Australian cricket, Pat Cummins has been named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain. After getting the job, Cummins paid tribute to the leadership of Tim Paine.

In what can be called a major break from tradition for the top job in Australian cricket, Pat Cummins has been named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain. After getting the job, Cummins paid tribute to the leadership of Tim Paine. After Paine’s resignation last week, former captain Steve Smith will serve as Cummins’ deputy. Also Read: Australia mulling diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Cummins was one of the favourites to succeed Paine. He was made the sole vice-captain a year ago. Since being stripped of the captaincy after the ball tampering scandal in 2018, this is Smith’s first official leadership position. He may also get to lead the team if Cummins misses a game. The change of guard comes when the national men’s team is going through a delicate time. “I am honoured to accept this role ahead of what will be a massive Ashes summer. I hope I can provide the same leadership Tim [Paine] has given the group in the past few years,” Cummins said. Also Read: Australian 'Summer of Tennis 2022' schedule announced, Australian Open from Jan 17 “With Steve and I as captains, a number of very senior players in this squad and some great young talent coming through we are a strong and tightly-knit group. This is an unexpected privilege which I am very grateful for and am very much looking forward to,” added Cummins. (With inputs from agencies)

After Paine resigns amid scandal, Cummins gets named as Australia’s 47th male Test captain

After more than a week sleeping in a frigid encampment on the border between Belarus and Poland, and an abortive foray across the frontier repelled by pepper spray and police batons, Mohammad Faraj gave up this month and retreated to a warm hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

Soon after, however, he watched with surprise and excitement a video report on Facebook claiming that Poland was about to open its border and urging all those who wanted to enter the European Union to gather at a gas station near the encampment that the migrants had nicknamed “the jungle.”

Faraj, a 35-year-old ethnic Kurd from Iraq, rushed back to the squalid camp he had just left, traveling 190 miles from Minsk to the gas station just in time for the opening of the border in early November that he had heard about on Facebook.

The Polish border, of course, remained tightly shut, and Faraj spent the next 10 days back in what he described as “like something out of a horror movie.”

The EU, offering robust support to Poland’s hard-line stand against migrants, has blamed the traumas of recent weeks on its eastern border on the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Belarusian authorities certainly have helped stoke the crisis, offering easy tourist visas to thousands of Iraqis and easing their way to the border with Poland.

But social media, particularly Facebook, also have given Lukashenko a vital assist, as an unpredictable accelerant to the hopes and illusions of people who have fallen prey to the empty promises of profiteers and charlatans on the internet.

Some were in it for money, promising to smuggle migrants across borders for hefty fees; some appeared to bask in the attention they received as online “influencers” for sharing information; others seemed motivated by a genuine desire to help people suffering. There has been no evidence to suggest a coordinated campaign by Lukashenko to target migrants with fake information online.

Fake news on Facebook, said Faraj, who last week was moved from the border encampment along with 2,000 other denizens of “the jungle,” to a giant nearby warehouse converted into a migrant holding center, “poured mud on our heads and destroyed our lives.”

Since July, activity on Facebook in Arabic and Kurdish related to migration to the EU through Belarus has been “skyrocketing,” said Monika Richter, head of research and analysis for Semantic Visions, an intelligence firm that tracked social media activity related to the crisis.

“Facebook exacerbated this humanitarian crisis, and now you have all these people who were brought over and explicitly misled and ripped off,” Richter said.

Researchers said smugglers openly shared their phone numbers and advertised their services on Facebook, including video testimonials from people said to have reached Germany successfully via Belarus and Poland. In one post, a smuggler advertised “daily trips from Minsk to Germany with only a 20 km walking distance.” The journey, a writer warned in another post Oct. 19, is “not suitable for children due to the cold.” Another smuggler with the Facebook username “Visa Visa” pitched trips to Germany from Belarus through Poland. The smuggler said the trip would take eight to 15 hours but added a warning: “Don’t call if you are afraid.”

Friday, despite the bitter experience of so many promises on Facebook that turned out to be false, a ripple of excitement swept across despondent people huddled in the warehouse after reports on social media that it was still possible to get into Europe — for anyone willing to pay $7,000 to a guide who claimed to know any easy route across the Belarus-Poland frontier and through massed ranks of Polish soldiers and border guards on the other side.

Rekar Hamid, a former math teacher in Iraqi Kurdistan who had already paid around $10,000 to travel agents in Iraq for a “package tour” that was supposed to get himself, his wife and young child to Europe but only got them locked up in a warehouse, scoffed at the latest offer as yet another scam. “They keep saying the door is opening, but look where we all are now,” he said, gesturing toward a mass of people huddled on the concrete floor.

Musa Hama, another Kurd from Iraq confined to the warehouse, lamented that no amount of fact-checking would prevent people grasping at straws of hope provided by Facebook. “People are desperate so they believe anything,” he said.

The stampede by migrants to Belarus in the hope of getting into the EU began earlier this year when the authoritarian former Soviet republic relaxed tightfisted visa policies for certain countries, notably Iraq. The relaxation was ostensibly an effort to boost tourism at a time when most Westerners were staying away following a brutal crackdown by Lukashenko in response a contested presidential election.

Sensing a lucrative business opportunity, travel companies in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan Region started advertising on Facebook and other platforms about the availability of visas to Belarus. Smugglers used social media to pitch Belarus as an easy backdoor to Europe.

Since July, Semantic Visions has identified dozens of Facebook groups created to share information about migration routes and used by smugglers to advertise their services.

A private group titled “Migration of the powerful from Belarus to Europe” exploded from 13,600 members in early September to roughly 30,000 currently, according to Semantic Visions. Another group, “Belarus Online,” grew from 7,700 members to 23,700 during the same period. On Telegram, a messaging and chat room platform, channels devoted to Belarus as a route to Europe have also attracted thousands of members.

“Our findings reveal the extent to which social media platforms — particularly Facebook — have been used as a de facto market for smuggling into the European Union,” Semantic Visions concluded in a recent report that has been circulated among EU officials.

Facebook, now officially known as Meta after a corporate name change, said it prohibited material that facilitates or promotes human smuggling and has dedicated teams to monitor and detect material related to the crisis. It added that the company was working with law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations to counter the flood of fake news relating to migration.

“People smuggling across international borders is illegal and ads, posts, pages or groups that provide, facilitate or coordinate this activity are not allowed on Facebook,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We remove this content as soon as we become aware of it.”

But the events in Belarus have exposed how, even after Facebook experienced a similar abuse of its services during the European migration crisis in 2015, the company still struggles to keep banned material off its platform, especially in non-English languages.

“Facebook is not taking their responsibility seriously, and as a direct consequence of that we see desperate people in the cold, in the mud, in the forest in Belarus, in a desperate situation, all because they believe the misinformation that was provided to them through Facebook,” said Jeroen Lenaers, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands who is a leader on the legislature’s committee that handles migration issues.

It is unclear what, if any, steps Facebook has taken to deal with misleading and potentially dangerous information.

One Kurdish-German influencer widely known online as Karwan Rawanduzy is a popular figure among would-be migrants to Europe, but his online videos and other reports frequently promote bogus stories, like the claim that Poland would open its border in early November.

Rawanduzy’s live posts on a Facebook page named Kurdisch News had more than 100,000 followers before it was disabled in November after the Kurdish-German influencer said a Polish politician had publicly accused him of helping to fuel the crisis. The page also featured videos sent by hungry and cold migrants trapped along the border.

Reached by phone in Hamburg, Germany, Rawanduzy said he was repeating information about pressure on Poland to open the border that he said had been reported by German media. He blamed smugglers and countries including Poland for the misery faced by migrants and that he was simply trying to help the asylum-seekers.

Rawanduzy, 42, describes himself as an immigration activist and a former refugee who left Iraq in 2009, two years after a suicide bombing in Irbil wounded him.

Faraj is still furious that he followed the advice of Rawanduzy, widely known by his first name, Karwan, by rushing from Minsk back to the border. “Everyone knows him, and everyone follows him,” he said. He added: “Karwan tricked us all on Facebook.”

Rawanduzy, who also owns a restaurant, said it was “not for me to feel bad or guilty” about people persuaded by his posts. “It is up to the Iraqi and Kurdish government to feel bad for all the reasons people want to escape.”

After more than a week sleeping in a frigid encampment on the border between Belarus and Poland, and an abortive foray across the frontier repelled by pepper spray and police batons, Mohammad Faraj gave up this month and retreated to a warm hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

After more than a week sleeping in a frigid encampment on the border between Belarus and Poland, and an abortive foray across the frontier repelled by pepper spray and police batons, Mohammad Faraj gave up this month and retreated to a warm hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Soon after, however, he watched with surprise and excitement a video report on Facebook claiming that Poland was about to open its border and urging all those who wanted to enter the European Union to gather at a gas station near the encampment that the migrants had nicknamed “the jungle.” Faraj, a 35-year-old ethnic Kurd from Iraq, rushed back to the squalid camp he had just left, traveling 190 miles from Minsk to the gas station just in time for the opening of the border in early November that he had heard about on Facebook. The Polish border, of course, remained tightly shut, and Faraj spent the next 10 days back in what he described as “like something out of a horror movie.” The EU, offering robust support to Poland’s hard-line stand against migrants, has blamed the traumas of recent weeks on its eastern border on the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. Belarusian authorities certainly have helped stoke the crisis, offering easy tourist visas to thousands of Iraqis and easing their way to the border with Poland. But social media, particularly Facebook, also have given Lukashenko a vital assist, as an unpredictable accelerant to the hopes and illusions of people who have fallen prey to the empty promises of profiteers and charlatans on the internet. Some were in it for money, promising to smuggle migrants across borders for hefty fees; some appeared to bask in the attention they received as online “influencers” for sharing information; others seemed motivated by a genuine desire to help people suffering. There has been no evidence to suggest a coordinated campaign by Lukashenko to target migrants with fake information online. Fake news on Facebook, said Faraj, who last week was moved from the border encampment along with 2,000 other denizens of “the jungle,” to a giant nearby warehouse converted into a migrant holding center, “poured mud on our heads and destroyed our lives.” Since July, activity on Facebook in Arabic and Kurdish related to migration to the EU through Belarus has been “skyrocketing,” said Monika Richter, head of research and analysis for Semantic Visions, an intelligence firm that tracked social media activity related to the crisis. “Facebook exacerbated this humanitarian crisis, and now you have all these people who were brought over and explicitly misled and ripped off,” Richter said. Researchers said smugglers openly shared their phone numbers and advertised their services on Facebook, including video testimonials from people said to have reached Germany successfully via Belarus and Poland. In one post, a smuggler advertised “daily trips from Minsk to Germany with only a 20 km walking distance.” The journey, a writer warned in another post Oct. 19, is “not suitable for children due to the cold.” Another smuggler with the Facebook username “Visa Visa” pitched trips to Germany from Belarus through Poland. The smuggler said the trip would take eight to 15 hours but added a warning: “Don’t call if you are afraid.” Friday, despite the bitter experience of so many promises on Facebook that turned out to be false, a ripple of excitement swept across despondent people huddled in the warehouse after reports on social media that it was still possible to get into Europe — for anyone willing to pay $7,000 to a guide who claimed to know any easy route across the Belarus-Poland frontier and through massed ranks of Polish soldiers and border guards on the other side. Rekar Hamid, a former math teacher in Iraqi Kurdistan who had already paid around $10,000 to travel agents in Iraq for a “package tour” that was supposed to get himself, his wife and young child to Europe but only got them locked up in a warehouse, scoffed at the latest offer as yet another scam. “They keep saying the door is opening, but look where we all are now,” he said, gesturing toward a mass of people huddled on the concrete floor. Musa Hama, another Kurd from Iraq confined to the warehouse, lamented that no amount of fact-checking would prevent people grasping at straws of hope provided by Facebook. “People are desperate so they believe anything,” he said. The stampede by migrants to Belarus in the hope of getting into the EU began earlier this year when the authoritarian former Soviet republic relaxed tightfisted visa policies for certain countries, notably Iraq. The relaxation was ostensibly an effort to boost tourism at a time when most Westerners were staying away following a brutal crackdown by Lukashenko in response a contested presidential election. Sensing a lucrative business opportunity, travel companies in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan Region started advertising on Facebook and other platforms about the availability of visas to Belarus. Smugglers used social media to pitch Belarus as an easy backdoor to Europe. Since July, Semantic Visions has identified dozens of Facebook groups created to share information about migration routes and used by smugglers to advertise their services. A private group titled “Migration of the powerful from Belarus to Europe” exploded from 13,600 members in early September to roughly 30,000 currently, according to Semantic Visions. Another group, “Belarus Online,” grew from 7,700 members to 23,700 during the same period. On Telegram, a messaging and chat room platform, channels devoted to Belarus as a route to Europe have also attracted thousands of members. “Our findings reveal the extent to which social media platforms — particularly Facebook — have been used as a de facto market for smuggling into the European Union,” Semantic Visions concluded in a recent report that has been circulated among EU officials. Facebook, now officially known as Meta after a corporate name change, said it prohibited material that facilitates or promotes human smuggling and has dedicated teams to monitor and detect material related to the crisis. It added that the company was working with law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations to counter the flood of fake news relating to migration. “People smuggling across international borders is illegal and ads, posts, pages or groups that provide, facilitate or coordinate this activity are not allowed on Facebook,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We remove this content as soon as we become aware of it.” But the events in Belarus have exposed how, even after Facebook experienced a similar abuse of its services during the European migration crisis in 2015, the company still struggles to keep banned material off its platform, especially in non-English languages. “Facebook is not taking their responsibility seriously, and as a direct consequence of that we see desperate people in the cold, in the mud, in the forest in Belarus, in a desperate situation, all because they believe the misinformation that was provided to them through Facebook,” said Jeroen Lenaers, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands who is a leader on the legislature’s committee that handles migration issues. It is unclear what, if any, steps Facebook has taken to deal with misleading and potentially dangerous information. One Kurdish-German influencer widely known online as Karwan Rawanduzy is a popular figure among would-be migrants to Europe, but his online videos and other reports frequently promote bogus stories, like the claim that Poland would open its border in early November. Rawanduzy’s live posts on a Facebook page named Kurdisch News had more than 100,000 followers before it was disabled in November after the Kurdish-German influencer said a Polish politician had publicly accused him of helping to fuel the crisis. The page also featured videos sent by hungry and cold migrants trapped along the border. Reached by phone in Hamburg, Germany, Rawanduzy said he was repeating information about pressure on Poland to open the border that he said had been reported by German media. He blamed smugglers and countries including Poland for the misery faced by migrants and that he was simply trying to help the asylum-seekers. Rawanduzy, 42, describes himself as an immigration activist and a former refugee who left Iraq in 2009, two years after a suicide bombing in Irbil wounded him. Faraj is still furious that he followed the advice of Rawanduzy, widely known by his first name, Karwan, by rushing from Minsk back to the border. “Everyone knows him, and everyone follows him,” he said. He added: “Karwan tricked us all on Facebook.” Rawanduzy, who also owns a restaurant, said it was “not for me to feel bad or guilty” about people persuaded by his posts. “It is up to the Iraqi and Kurdish government to feel bad for all the reasons people want to escape.”

How fake news on Facebook helped fuel a border crisis in Europe

According to a new report by WHO, HIV drug resistance is on the rise. The report has also found that the number of people with the virus being treated with antiretrovirals has also increased to 27.5 million. It has witnessed an annual increase of two million. &nbsp;

The HIV drug-resistance report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said four out of five nations with high rates have seen success in suppressing the virus with antiretroviral treatments. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/highly-mutated-new-covid-variant-uk-bans-6-african-nations-flights-who-calls-special-meeting-432019" hreflang="en">Highly mutated new Covid variant: UK bans 6 African nations' flights, WHO calls special meeting</a>

The study also found a rise in nations reaching a 10 per cent threshold of resistance to a class of drugs. The WHO said, it underlined the need for a move to an alternative treatment, which was recommended since 2019. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In 21 out of 30 nations surveyed in the study, the resistance exceeding the 10% threshold was reported. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/will-take-weeks-to-understand-new-virus-variant-says-who-432124" hreflang="en">Will take weeks to understand new virus variant, says WHO</a>

The surveys in 10 sub-Saharan African nations showed that switching from non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors was important for children. Nearly half of infants were diagnosed with carrying the drug-resistant HIV. &nbsp;

Meg Doherty, director, WHO’s global HIV, hepatitis and STI programmes, said the report holds nations accountable for monitoring drug resistance and ensuring effective treatment for patients.&nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

According to a new report by WHO, HIV drug resistance is on the rise. The report has also found that the number of people with the virus being treated with antiretrovirals has also increased to 27.

According to a new report by WHO, HIV drug resistance is on the rise. The report has also found that the number of people with the virus being treated with antiretrovirals has also increased to 27.5 million. It has witnessed an annual increase of two million. The HIV drug-resistance report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said four out of five nations with high rates have seen success in suppressing the virus with antiretroviral treatments. Also Read: Highly mutated new Covid variant: UK bans 6 African nations' flights, WHO calls special meeting The study also found a rise in nations reaching a 10 per cent threshold of resistance to a class of drugs. The WHO said, it underlined the need for a move to an alternative treatment, which was recommended since 2019. In 21 out of 30 nations surveyed in the study, the resistance exceeding the 10% threshold was reported. Also Read: Will take weeks to understand new virus variant, says WHO The surveys in 10 sub-Saharan African nations showed that switching from non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors was important for children. Nearly half of infants were diagnosed with carrying the drug-resistant HIV. Meg Doherty, director, WHO’s global HIV, hepatitis and STI programmes, said the report holds nations accountable for monitoring drug resistance and ensuring effective treatment for patients. (With inputs from agencies)

Resistance to HIV drug on rise, finds WHO report

If a report is to be believed, Pakistan government is coming up with a policy through which foreigners, who have been living in the country for seven consecutive years, may get citizenship. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The policy in this regard seems to be on the cards and will come out soon, said a report by newspaper ‘Daily Times’ in Pakistan. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/schools-offices-in-pakistans-lahore-to-remain-shut-three-days-a-week-as-air-turns-toxic-431960" hreflang="en">Schools, offices in Lahore to remain shut three days a week as air turns toxic</a>

This remark came from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Chairman Tariq Malik while he was addressing the 8th annual National Data Privacy Conference, which was organised by Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) in Islamabad. &nbsp;

Malik said that a policy is under formulation to grant citizenship to foreigners, who have been living in Pakistan for over seven years consecutively. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-petroleum-dealers-launch-nationwide-strike-against-lower-profit-margins-431887" hreflang="en">Pakistan petrol dealers launch nationwide strike against lower profit margins</a>

The chairman also said that another policy, where citizens will get the right to check their data, is being made. When this comes into effect, the citizens will be able to check whether a bank or FBR has checked their data in one year or not. &nbsp;

NADRA Chairman, while addressing the conference, also claimed that the data of the agency is completely secure.&nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

If a report is to be believed, Pakistan government is coming up with a policy through which foreigners, who have been living in the country for seven consecutive years, may get citizenship.

If a report is to be believed, Pakistan government is coming up with a policy through which foreigners, who have been living in the country for seven consecutive years, may get citizenship. The policy in this regard seems to be on the cards and will come out soon, said a report by newspaper ‘Daily Times’ in Pakistan. Also Read: Schools, offices in Lahore to remain shut three days a week as air turns toxic This remark came from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Chairman Tariq Malik while he was addressing the 8th annual National Data Privacy Conference, which was organised by Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) in Islamabad. Malik said that a policy is under formulation to grant citizenship to foreigners, who have been living in Pakistan for over seven years consecutively. Also Read: Pakistan petrol dealers launch nationwide strike against lower profit margins The chairman also said that another policy, where citizens will get the right to check their data, is being made. When this comes into effect, the citizens will be able to check whether a bank or FBR has checked their data in one year or not. NADRA Chairman, while addressing the conference, also claimed that the data of the agency is completely secure. (With inputs from agencies)

Pak may give citizenship to foreigners living for 7 consecutive years, says report

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