On Thursday, the eve of the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England, U.S. President Joe Biden formally announced what had been disclosed a day earlier — that his administration would donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to 92 low- and middle-income countries. Here’s the latest from White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara, who is traveling with the president. …
Cyber Regulation Could Be Coming Following Spate of Hacks, Ransomware Attacks
The United States may soon look to regulate private companies, mandating higher standards for cybersecurity following a series of damaging hacks and ransomware attacks against key firms and critical infrastructure.U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominees to fill two top cyber roles in his administration warned Thursday that malign actors are currently operating with impunity and that too many private sector organizations have, so far, failed to take the necessary precautions.FILE – In this June 8, 2013 photo, Chris Inglis, then deputy director of the National Security Agency testifies on Capitol Hill. Inglis is being nominated as the government’s first national cyber director at the Department of Homeland Security.”Enlightened self-interest, that’s apparently not working,” Chris Inglis, tapped to be the country’s first national cyber director, told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “Market forces, that’s apparently not working.””When they’re conducting critical activities upon which the nation’s interests depend, it may well be we need to step in and we need to regulate or mandate in the same way we’ve done that for the aviation industry or the automobile industry,” he added.Jen Easterly, nominated to head up the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, agreed.”As a nation, we remain at great risk of a catastrophic cyberattack,” she said. “It seems to me that voluntary standards are probably not getting the job done and that there is probably some sort of role for making some of these standards mandatory, to include notification.”The question of how best to …
White House Launches Broader Scrutiny of Foreign Tech
An executive order signed by President Joe Biden this week dropped a Trump-era measure that barred Americans from downloading TikTok and several other Chinese smartphone apps. But analysts say the order also broadens the scrutiny of foreign-controlled technology.Biden’s move replaced three Trump administration executive orders that sought to ban downloads of TikTok and WeChat and transactions with eight other Chinese apps. The FILE – A counter promoting WeChat, a product of Tencent, for reading books for the blind is displayed at a news conference in Hong Kong, March 18, 2015.”This means that TikTok may have to go through another review, and any decision won’t be easily challenged in court,” he added. “This is the start of Round 2, and TikTok may not get off as easily this time.”When asked during a briefing Wednesday if the White House still intended to ban TikTok or WeChat, an administration official told reporters that all apps listed on the revoked executive orders would be reviewed under the new process and criteria.Key order standsJulian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, told VOA that Biden had maintained one of Trump’s most important executive orders. Trump signed the “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain” order in May 2019, declaring a national emergency posed by foreign adversaries “who are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology and services.”Biden is “not revoking the basic framework, which is that the U.S. government should be trying to prevent transfer …
Restrictions Lift as COVID-19 Deaths and Cases Fall in Washington
Washington-area residents are increasingly out and about as COVID-19 cases fall in the U.S., including the capital region. But reluctance to get vaccinated persists in some quarters, despite extensive campaigns promoting inoculation — and warnings of the dangers of failing to get the jab. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has our story.Camera: Laurel Bowman …
US Again Condemns Nigeria’s Twitter Ban
The U.S. has condemned Nigeria’s continuing ban of Twitter in the country, saying the action “has no place in a democracy.”“Freedom of expression and access to information both online and offline are foundational to prosperous and secure democratic societies,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday in a statement calling for the African nation to reverse its Twitter suspension.He said the U.S. “condemns the ongoing suspension of Twitter by the Nigerian government and subsequent threats to arrest and prosecute Nigerians who use Twitter. The United States is likewise concerned that the Nigerian National Broadcasting Commission ordered all television and radio broadcasters to cease using Twitter.”The U.S. had joined the European Union, Britain, Ireland and Canada last weekend in criticizing the Nigerian action. The Abuja government indefinitely banned Twitter after the U.S. social media company deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account for violating its rules.Tweet about unrestBuhari’s tweet referred to the country’s civil war four decades ago in a warning about recent unrest, referring to “those misbehaving” in violence in the southeastern part of the country. Officials there blame the prohibited separatist group IPOB for attacks on police and election offices.”Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” the president had posted on Twitter.Buhari’s office denied the Twitter suspension was a response to the removal of that post.”There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake …
Biden Administration Won’t Require Shots for Federal Workers Returning to Offices
U.S federal workers will not be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to the office, according to guidance from the Biden administration released Thursday.The guidance says federal agencies should base their reopening plans on the percentage of employees who are vaccinated, but said revealing vaccination status would be voluntary.The guidance urged agencies to build in more flexibility for some workers, including more remote work and working outside normal business hours.About 60% of the 4-million-person federal workforce has been operating remotely during the pandemic, Reuters reported.Agencies are required to submit their plans for reopening by next week, the guidance stated, and they should be ready to implement the plans by July 19.According to the guidance, agencies’ “eventual post-pandemic operating state may differ in significant ways from [their] pre-pandemic operating state.” …
NASA Sends Squids into Space, Soccer Star Talks Game with Orbiting Astronaut
NASA sends squids to space. Plus, the world’s wealthiest man makes out-of-this-world travel arrangements, and a soccer star talks game with an orbiting astronaut. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi …
US, Europe to Collaborate on New Venus Mission
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced Thursday it will collaborate with the U.S. space agency NASA on an unmanned probe to study Venus, the third such mission to the planet announced this month.In a release, ESA said the probe will be called EnVision, and much like the DAVINCI+ and VERITAS missions announced by NASA earlier in June, its overall mission will be to collect data about Venus’ atmosphere and surface to unlock information about how the planet formed and evolved.Sunrise Special: Solar Eclipse Thrills World’s Northern TierFarther south, the upper portions of North America, Europe and Asia got a bite-size partial eclipse. It’s the first eclipse of the sun for North America since August 2017, when a total solar eclipse crisscrossed the USVenus is of particular interest to scientists because it is Earth’s closest neighbor in the solar system and strikingly similar to Earth in size and composition. Yet in its current form, it is inhospitable to life as we know it, with a surface temperature capable of melting lead.The EnVision probe will contain instruments to answer questions as to how Venus got that way. The spacecraft will include a “sounder” to help reveal what lies below the surface of the planet. Spectrometers on the probe will study both the surface and the atmosphere, monitoring for trace gases that might indicate an active volcano.NASA will contribute the VenSAR radar system to image and map the surface. The space agency will also be responsible for the project’s overall instrument management.Scientist from …
India Breaks World Record After Posting 6,000 COVID Deaths in a Day
India posted a single-day world record Thursday of more than 6,000 COVID-19 deaths after one state revised a set of numbers.The eastern state of Bihar, one of India’s largest and poorest states, revised its death toll Wednesday from about 5,500 to 9,500 after the state’s high court ordered the government to review its records.Many experts have said India’s death toll is far higher than official reports after a devastating surge of new infections in April and May saw the emergence of hundreds of makeshift crematoriums and scores of bodies floating in rivers.The revised count pushed India’s one-day death toll to 6,148, outpacing the 5,444 recorded by the United States on February 12, according to Reuters.The world’s second-most populous nation now has 29.1 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 355,705 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, second only to the United States with 33.4 million total cases and 598,766 deaths.In other news, a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Medicine reveals a slightly higher risk of a bleeding disorder from the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Researchers discovered some people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine in Scotland had developed a condition called ITP, or immune thrombocytopenic purpura, which causes bruising in some cases and also serious bleeding in others.The study also found very small increased risks of arterial blood clots and bleeding possibly associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. …
WHO Official Urges Caution as Nations Reopen
The World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe urged caution Thursday, as 36 of the region’s 53 countries begin to ease COVID-19 restrictions, saying the continent’s vaccination rate is insufficient to prevent a resurgence.At a virtual briefing from his headquarters in Copenhagen, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge acknowledged current pandemic numbers are headed in the right direction, with two consecutive months of decline in new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations.But Kluge cautioned that the highly transmissible Delta variant strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 – originally identified in India – is “poised to take hold,” in the region, while many people above the age of 60 remain unvaccinated.The WHO Europe director noted that cases were declining at this time last year, only to surge again.“Over the course of last summer, cases gradually rose in younger age groups, then moved into older age groups, contributing to a devastating resurgence, lockdowns and loss of life, in the autumn and winter of 2020.”The difference this year, of course is the availability of vaccines. Kluge said so far, 30 percent of the region has received at least one vaccine dose and 17 percent are fully vaccinated. He said while that’s good progress, it’s not enough to prevent a resurgence of the virus once people begin traveling and attending large public events such as sports or festivals.He urged people to get vaccinated and to continue to use COVID-19 precautions, such as face masks, while enjoying the summer.Kluge also expressed gratitude for U.S. President Joe …
Why Do Some People Get Side Effects After COVID-19 Vaccines?
Temporary side effects including headache, fatigue and fever are signs the immune system is revving up — a normal response to vaccines. And they’re common.”The day after getting these vaccines, I wouldn’t plan anything that was strenuous physical activity,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine chief, who experienced fatigue after his first dose.Here’s what’s happening: The immune system has two main arms, and the first kicks in as soon as the body detects a foreign intruder. White blood cells swarm to the site, prompting inflammation that’s responsible for chills, soreness, fatigue and other side effects.This rapid-response step of your immune system tends to wane with age, one reason younger people report side effects more often than older adults. Also, some vaccines simply elicit more reactions than others. That said, everyone reacts differently. If you didn’t feel anything a day or two after either dose, that doesn’t mean the vaccine isn’t working. Behind the scenes, the shots also set in motion the second part of your immune system, which will provide the real protection from the virus by producing antibodies.Another nuisance side effect: As the immune system activates, it also sometimes causes temporary swelling in lymph nodes, such as those under the arm. Women are encouraged to schedule routine mammograms ahead of COVID-19 vaccination to avoid a swollen node being mistaken for cancer. Not all side effects are routine. But after hundreds of millions of vaccine doses administered around the world — and intense safety monitoring …
Hong Kong Opens Vaccine Drive to Children Aged 12 and Older
Hong Kong will allow children age 12 and above to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine as it seeks to boost immunization rates in the city. Government officials said Thursday they will offer the vaccine to about 240,000 children from 12 to 15 years old starting Friday, joining other countries that have started vaccinating children. The move comes as Hong Kong is urging its 7.5 million population to get inoculated. Since its vaccination drive began in late February, just over 15% of the population has been fully vaccinated. The city has seen widespread vaccine hesitancy due to a mistrust of the government and outsized fears of side effects after several people died following inoculations, despite a determination that the deaths were not directly related to the vaccine. “The government attaches high importance to getting adolescents and students vaccinated, and it is the government’s hope that more students, parents and teachers will be vaccinated,” said Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip. Since they are below 18, children must obtain parental approval before they can be vaccinated. Health minister Sophia Chan urged parents to let their children get vaccinated to “help them to go back to school for their normal lives as soon as possible.” Students in kindergarten through secondary school are currently attending only half-day classes as part of preventive measures during the pandemic. The semi-autonomous Chinese city is offering the Pfizer vaccine — better known as BioNTech in the city — and the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine. Hong Kong officials say those wanting to receive the Pfizer vaccine must do so …
Insect-Tracking Drones to Boost Rare Bug Conservation in New Zealand
A “swarm” of bug-tracking drones and tiny radars are being developed to help conservation of rare insects in New Zealand. The new tag-and-track technology is being developed at the University of Canterbury on New Zealand’s South Island. Researchers hope it could lead to a deeper understanding of New Zealand’s threatened and endangered insects. The research draws on years of experience in the area of bird conservation, where radio tracking methods have helped to protect many vulnerable species. Experts have said that at a stretch the technology could also be used to study large invertebrates such as giant land snails but was simply too big and heavy for most insects. Researchers have now made about 20 tiny so-called harmonic radar tags that are fitted to insects. They would then be tracked by a “swarm” of drones. Steve Pawson, from the university’s College of Engineering, says bird-tracking technology has been a major inspiration. “They have been doing radio tracking on many of these species over several decades now and the information that they learn from that really informs the conservation management. So, understanding how far do these things move, where do they go foraging, what are their foraging behaviors? Even things as simple as how long things live for. Unfortunately, the radio tracking technologies that are out there at the moment are too heavy to use on small insects. There is only a handful of our heaviest insects that can carry those and so we are really limited in our understanding of how invertebrates are moving through the environment, and if we have that knowledge then we can incorporate it in our decision making and our planning …
Biden Administration to Review Trump Ban on TikTok, WeChat, Other Apps
Former president Donald Trump’s executive order that attempted to ban Chinese video app TikTok has been replaced by the Biden administration, which has implemented its own executive orders to review several Chinese apps for possible national security and privacy risks. President Joe Biden’s executive order directs the Commerce Department to analyze TikTok, WeChat and other Chinese apps to see if they collect personal data or if they are connected to the Chinese military. According to a White House statement about the order, Commerce, in consultation with other federal agencies, can “make recommendations to protect against harm from the sale, transfer of, or access to sensitive personal data, including personally identifiable information and genetic information — to include large data repositories — to persons owned or controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of, foreign adversaries.” “The administration is committed to promoting an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet and to protecting human rights online and offline, and to supporting a vibrant global digital economy,” a senior administration official said Wednesday, according to The Verge, which first reported the story. “The challenge that we’re addressing with this [executive order] is that certain countries, including China, do not share these commitments or values and are instead working to leverage digital technologies and American data in ways that present unacceptable national security risks,” the official added. Trump’s efforts to ban TikTok in the summer of 2020 were blocked by the courts, and the issue was soon overshadowed by the 2020 presidential election. US Judge Halts …
Biden Replaces Trump Ban on TikTok, WeChat, Other Apps
Former president Donald Trump’s executive order that attempted to ban Chinese video app TikTok has been replaced by the Biden administration, which has implemented its own executive orders to review several Chinese apps for possible national security and privacy risks. President Joe Biden’s executive order directs the Commerce Department to analyze TikTok, WeChat and other Chinese apps to see if they collect personal data or if they are connected to the Chinese military. According to a White House statement about the order, Commerce, in consultation with other federal agencies, can “make recommendations to protect against harm from the sale, transfer of, or access to sensitive personal data, including personally identifiable information and genetic information — to include large data repositories — to persons owned or controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of, foreign adversaries.” “The administration is committed to promoting an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet and to protecting human rights online and offline, and to supporting a vibrant global digital economy,” a senior administration official said Wednesday, according to The Verge, which first reported the story. “The challenge that we’re addressing with this [executive order] is that certain countries, including China, do not share these commitments or values and are instead working to leverage digital technologies and American data in ways that present unacceptable national security risks,” the official added. Trump’s efforts to ban TikTok in the summer of 2020 were blocked by the courts, and the issue was soon overshadowed by the 2020 presidential election. US Judge Halts …
Slow Vaccination Rate in Africa Could Have Major Consequences, Experts Warn
By any measure, the number of those being vaccinated against COVID-19 in Africa are running behind the rest of the world. Health experts warn that failure to inoculate the 1.3 billion people on the continent will have a huge impact on its health care systems and economies. More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, most African countries have vaccinated only a tiny fraction of their populations.Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, has fully vaccinated just 0.1% of its citizens.The Africa Center for Disease Control says three countries — Tanzania, Burundi, Eritrea — and the self-declared Sahrawi Republic have yet to receive any vaccines, while Burkina Faso has received 115,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but has not yet administered a single jab.Abdhalah Ziraba, an epidemiologist and the head of the health system at the African Population and Health Research Center in Nairobi, says the failure to inoculate is partly due to vaccine hesitancy among the population, and underdeveloped health care systems, especially in non-urban areas. “In Africa, most people live in rural areas. The health care system that should be the system to deliver the vaccines to the last person is not as elaborate as the population is distributed. So, people are far away from where they can get access to vaccines, and as a consequence, they are definitely left out, but they remain at risk of getting exposed to COVID-19,” Zariba said.Kenya has fully vaccinated just 13,000 people out of a population of 50 million, although about 1 million …
In Billions of Cicadas, Poets Find Their Muse
Across the Eastern United States, billions of Brood X cicadas are emerging after 17 years underground. The noisy insects with the bright red eyes overwhelm predators by emerging in densities of 1 million per acre, scientists say. And the hum of mating males has been likened to the buzz of a chain saw. Cicadas have long fascinated one Washington, D.C.-based newspaper columnist, who has invited readers to muse poetic about cicadas. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has that story. Camera: Laurel Bowman …
Cicadas Delay Planeload of Reporters Following Biden to Europe
A chartered airplane scheduled to take the U.S. presidential press corps from Washington to Europe was delayed for at least five hours late Tuesday after cicadas — large flying insects that are currently out in huge numbers in the region — apparently clogged the plane’s engines.Media reports say the flight, for members of the media to cover U.S. President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe, had been scheduled to depart Dulles Airport, in Virgina, at about 9 p.m. local time. But, the reports say, the press corps gathered at a nearby hotel, were told the plane had been delayed due to “cicada issues,” and would not leave until at least 2:40 a.m.A spokeswoman for Delta Airlines, which operated the charter, confirmed to The Washington Post that cicadas inside the engines had prevented the plane from taking off, requiring a new airplane and pilot. It was unclear how many cicadas got into engines and how they disrupted the mechanism.The Washington area is among 14 states, mostly in the eastern United States, periodically swarmed by cicadas. Billions of the insects emerged last month after 17 years underground in larval form to molt and find mates by making a loud buzzing with their wings. When they are in large groups, the sound can be deafening and heard for miles.Though completely harmless, the bugs are seemingly everywhere and on everything in the Washington region. Even President Joe Biden was not spared, getting buzzed by a cicada as he was boarding Air Force One early Wednesday, …
US Surgeons Help Russian Boy Born Deaf, Without Ears
Four-year-old Kirill Zherebtsov was born deaf and without ears. He was scheduled for a special surgery in California but a day before his flight, his mother died unexpectedly. What happened next is a story in resilience. Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetian …
Australian Scientists Confirm Discovery of New Dinosaur Species
Officials in Australia have confirmed the discovery of a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur, the largest ever found on the continent, and one of the largest to have ever lived.A study published Monday in the scientific journal Paleontology and Evolutionary Science describes how bones originally discovered in 2006 have been officially designated as Australotitan Cooperensis, a giant sauropod, a type of long-necked plant-eating dinosaur.Queensland Museum paleontologist Scott Hocknull told reporters Tuesday the animal stood five to six-and-a-half meters high and was 25 to 30 meters long from head to tail.The dinosaur is known as Australotitan for short, and affectionately as “Cooper” by the members of the team that conducted the study. The bones were originally discovered on a family farm in 2006 about 1,000 kilometers west of Brisbane in the Eromanga Basin.The team of paleontologists, geologists and volunteers spent 15 years studying the bones using 3-D digital scanning technology to compare the dinosaur with its close relatives, to determine and confirm what they had found. Hocknull said, “We compared Australotitan’s bones to all of these gigantic sauropods and it’s in the top 10 to 15.”The bones had been on display in the museum since 2007 pending the results of the study.That part of the titanosaur family lived about 100 million years ago. The Queensland Museum says they were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropod dinosaurs and the largest known land-dwelling animals to have ever lived. …
Britain Grappling with Decision to Ease COVID Restrictions
When to unlock? Britain’s Boris Johnson is coming under mounting pressure from Conservative lawmakers and their allies in the media to keep to a previously outlined timetable that would see virtually all pandemic restrictions relaxed on June 21 in England. But a sudden surge in coronavirus infections has triggered fierce counter-lobbying from the government’s scientific advisers, who want a delay to the final easing of restrictions to assess the latest data and to ensure that variants, including the now-dominant Delta variant, first detected in India, aren’t resistant to vaccines. FILE – Pedestrians walk past a sign warning members of the public about a “Coronavirus variant of concern,” in Hounslow, west London, Britain, June 1, 2021.Ministers have been hinting for days of a delay in what was earmarked as the final unlocking phase, and government officials say they are in a race between vaccinating people and the Delta variant. Businesspeople are also expressing frustration at any delay. Those angered by talk of delay include Andrew Lloyd-Webber, theater impresario and the composer of musicals, “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats.” He issued a threat to the government Wednesday, vowing to risk arrest by reopening his London theaters on June 21. If the final stage of unlocking was postponed, “We will say, ‘come to the theater and arrest us,’” he told local media. The Delta variant is at least 40% more infectious than the previous strain dominating Britain, say government advisory panels, and the surge in cases is being seen largely among the unvaccinated under-30-year-olds. …
With Trump Suspension, Facebook Tells World Leaders: Your Speech Will Not Get a Pass
Facebook’s recent decision to ban former president Donald Trump for two years sends a message to world leaders that Facebook is stepping up its role as sheriff on its service. Tina Trinh reports.Produced by Tina Trinh …
Senate Passes Bill to Boost US Tech Industry, Counter Rivals
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday that aims to boost U.S. semiconductor production and the development of artificial intelligence and other technology in the face of growing international competition, most notably from China. The 68-32 vote for the bill demonstrates how confronting China economically is an issue that unites both parties in Congress. That’s a rarity in an era of division as pressure grows on Democrats to change Senate rules to push past Republican opposition and gridlock. The centerpiece of the bill is a $50 billion emergency allotment to the Commerce Department to stand up semiconductor development and manufacturing through research and incentive programs previously authorized by Congress. The bill’s overall cost would increase spending by about $250 billion with most of the spending occurring in the first five years. Supporters described it as the biggest investment in scientific research that the country has seen in decades. It comes as the nation’s share of semiconductor manufacturing globally has steadily eroded from 37% in 1990 to about 12% now, and as a chip shortage has exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain. FILE – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, March 6, 2021.”The premise is simple — if we want American workers and American companies to keep leading the world, the federal government must invest in science, basic research and innovation, just as we did decades after the Second World War,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.”Whoever wins the race to the technologies of the future is going …
How a Fake FBI-Encrypted Device Ensnared Criminals Around the World
The global sting operation billed as “Trojan Shield” that led to the arrests of hundreds of criminals this week began with the takedown of an encrypted device maker catering to drug traffickers around the world. In 2018, the FBI dismantled Canada-based Phantom Secure, forcing its customers — at the time estimated at more than 10,000 — to look for other encrypted apps. To fill the void, the FBI in late 2019 recruited a “confidential human source” to launch its own hardened encrypted device company called ANOM, putting a new, secure communications product on the market. The informant in turn introduced the device to his network of trusted distributors, allowing the use of the device to grow organically, according to an FBI affidavit. The ANOM app quickly took off in the criminal underworld. So confident were ANOM’s distributors and administrators in the secrecy of the devices that “they openly marketed them to other potential users as designed by criminals for criminals,” Andy Grossman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, said at a press conference Tuesday in San Diego, announcing charges against 17 foreign nationals accused of administering and distributing the app. The ANOM logo is displayed on the screen of a smartphone in Paris, June 8, 2021.Law enforcement officials stand in front of an Operation Trojan Shield logo at a news conference, in San Diego, June 8, 2021.The data was then provided to the FBI, which reviewed the communications for criminal activity and shared them with law enforcement agencies …