International

Latin America’s police dogs turn noses to Covid

AFP/Editor

Their highly superior sense of smell has long been used to sniff out drugs, weapons and dead bodies. Now Latin America’s crime-fighting police dogs are being trained to detect Covid-19.

In El Salvador, police are using artificial aromas like the sweat of a person infected with the coronavirus to train dogs.

Wilber Alarcon, a canine handler from the Central American nation’s anti-narcotics police, expects Covid-19 sniffer dogs to soon be patrolling airports, bus terminals and border posts in his country, one of seven to attend the drills in Mexico’s eastern state of Veracruz.

“The dog detects and marks the infected person, a strict biosafety protocol is activated, and you are reducing the risk that a person, or others close to the infected person, may catch the virus,” he said.

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Dogs are believed to have up to 300 million olfactory receptors — far more than humans — that give them their superior sense of smell. Studies have suggested that they can detect the virus even in asymptomatic patients.

It is not the first time that dogs have been trained with artificial scents — they are also used to teach them to sniff out drugs or explosives.

In crime-plagued Mexico, where 80,000 people officially went missing between 2006 and 2020, the aromas include “putrefied, fresh or drowned corpse.”

International

NFL Investigating Emails Linking Giants Executive to Jeffrey Epstein

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Monday that the league will “examine all the facts” regarding contacts between New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein, revealed in documents recently released about the late convicted sex offender.

The batch of files, made public on Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice, includes emails suggesting that Epstein introduced several women to Tisch.

Tisch, a film producer who has never been charged in connection with Epstein, issued a statement last week denying any wrongdoing.

“I had a brief relationship in which we exchanged emails about adult women, and we also discussed film, philanthropy, and investments,” Tisch said of his correspondence with Epstein, which dates back to 2013.

“I did not accept any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all now know, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret having associated with,” he added.

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Speaking at a press conference in San Jose, California, on Monday, Goodell said the NFL would carefully review the details of the ties between Tisch and Epstein.

“We’re going to examine all the facts,” the commissioner said. “We’re going to look at the context of those exchanges, try to understand them, and see how that fits within the league’s policies.”

Tisch, 76, could face disciplinary action under the NFL’s strict personal conduct policy, even if he is not found guilty of a crime.

“We’re going to take this step by step. First, let’s gather all the facts,” Goodell said at the press conference, which was part of the events leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.

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International

Spain Seeks to Ban Social Media Access for Children Under 16

The Spanish government wants to ban access to social media for children under the age of 16 to shield them from a world of “pornography” and “violence,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Tuesday in Dubai.

“Spain will ban access to social media for minors under 16,” Sánchez said during a speech at the World Governments Summit, being held in the United Arab Emirates city.

The Spanish leader said social media platforms will be required to implement effective age-verification systems, going beyond simple checkboxes to establish “real barriers that actually work.”

“Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone,” Sánchez said, describing an environment of “addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence.”

“We will no longer accept this,” he added.

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The left-wing prime minister also announced plans to change the law so that “platform executives are legally responsible for many of the violations that occur on their websites.”

“This means that the CEOs of these technology platforms will face criminal liability for failing to remove illegal content or material that incites hatred,” Sánchez said.

International

Mexico to Send Humanitarian Aid to Cuba Amid U.S. Threats Over Oil Shipments

Mexico will send “humanitarian aid” to Cuba this week, including food and “essential supplies,” President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Sunday, after the United States threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.

“We are planning humanitarian aid for Cuba (…) including food and other products, while we resolve diplomatically everything related to the shipment of oil for humanitarian reasons,” Sheinbaum said during a public event.

Mexico has become a key oil supplier to Cuba, which is facing a deep energy crisis worsened by the suspension of crude oil shipments from Venezuela following U.S. military intervention in that country and the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Sheinbaum has previously warned that Mexico would continue to act in “solidarity” with Cuba, although she instructed her foreign minister to establish contact with Washington to “clearly understand the scope” of President Donald Trump’s decree sanctioning hydrocarbon shipments to the island.

While her government seeks a diplomatic solution with the U.S. administration, the leftist president decided to proceed with the delivery of other humanitarian goods.