Monday morning news: February 13, 2023

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Turkey probes contractors as earthquake deaths pass 33,000 » Turkey is cracking down on contractors it says cut corners when building many of the buildings that crumbled to the ground during earthquakes last week.

Turkish prosecutors say they’re investigating more than 130 people connected to the construction of buildings that now lie in ruin.

AUDIO: [Applause, shouts]

Meanwhile rescue workers are pulling survivors from the rubble of those buildings, but hopes are shrinking for the families of those who are still missing.

Organizations like the U.S.-based Virginia Task Force 1 are helping with search and rescue efforts. Task Force member John Morrison says his team isn’t giving up.

MORRISON: The hope of being able to rescue somebody that really pushes us forward and the ability to represent the United States and USA ID. It makes us happy and I'm proud to be here and we're happy to help our fellows, our fellow man.

The death toll for the earthquakes has risen past 33,000 and more than 80,000 others are injured.

More objects shot down over North America » Members of Congress are questioning U.S. air defenses after American fighter jets shot down three more unidentified objects over North America in the past week.

Democratic Senator Jon Tester:

TESTER: What's gone on the last, you know, two weeks or so 10 days has been nothing short of craziness and the military needs to have a plan to not only determine what's out there but determine the dangers that go with it.

Cylindrical objects were shot down over Alaska and Northern Canada. Another smaller balloon-like object drifted over Lake Huron before U.S. forces took it down.

Republican Congressman Nick LaLota:

LALOTA: The Chinese Communist Party is testing our intelligence and our responses to their intelligence gathering capabilities right here in our own sovereign territories. Congress has a lot of questions to ask about who knew what and when.

The downing of the three objects comes after a Chinese spy balloon floated over the United States for roughly a week before a U.S. fighter jet shot it down off the Carolina coast.

U.S. forces strike in Somalia » And in Somalia, another U.S. airstrike over the weekend killed 12 al-Shabaab terrorists. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The strike brings the total number of al-Shabaab fighters killed in airstrikes to 48 in just this year.

The U.S. military command in Africa said it believes no civilians died in this weekend’s attack.

U.S. forces have supported Somali troops since President Biden approved sending them to the country last May. Former President Donald Trump removed troops from the country in 2020.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Military recruitment hurdles » The U.S. Army is missing its recruiting goals. The oldest U.S. military branch signed up about 45,000 new recruits last year. But it was aiming for 60,000.

Army marketing officials say that while potential recruits respect the Army, they don’t see it as relevant to their lives and they aren’t ready to potentially put their lives on the line in military service.

Russia Olympics » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend criticized the International Olympic Committee’s decision to let athletes from Russia and Belarus compete in the 2024 Olympics.

The Olympic Committee said the athletes could not compete under their national colors. Zelenskyy says that doesn’t make a difference.

ZELENSKYY: If representatives of a terrorist state appear at international sports competitions or the Olympic Games, will it matter if they are there without their national symbols?

Russian athletes have been banned rom wearing their country’s flag at prior Olympics due to doping scandals.

Chiefs win Super Bowl » The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl Champions.

AUDIO: [Celebration]

A crowd heard there gathered in Kansas City to watch what turned into a bit of a nail-biter.

Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left after Patrick Mahomes broke off a 26-yard run, lifting the Chiefs to a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mahomes was playing on a sprained ankle, but he said there was no way he’d let that stop him.

MAHOMES: Yeah, I told y’all this week, there was nothing that was going to keep me off that football field. And I just want to shout out my teammates man. We challenged each other. It took everybody to win this football game. So, shout out to my teammates. We’re Super Bowl champs, baby, let’s go!

This is the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

“He gets us” Super Bowl commercial » For some casual fans, the commercials are the best part of the Super Bowl. Many of the most creative and buzzworthy ads run during the big game. But this year, in between ads for Pepsi and potato chips was something more substantial, two commercials advertising Jesus.

AUDIO: He Gets Us is a multi-year national campaign to raise the respect and relevance of Jesus in our culture.

The campaign funded mostly by large anonymous donors paid for two Super Bowl ads. Those slots were going for $7 million for 30 seconds. He Gets Us aired a 30-second spot in the second quarter and a 60-second commercial later in the game.

Microsoft suspends relationship with group blacklisting conservative news » Microsoft has suspended its relationship with a group accused of blacklisted conservatives.

The Washington Examiner says the Microsoft-owned ad company Xandr previously subscribed to the Global Disinformation Index’s blacklist of conservative websites. The Examiner based its reports on whistleblowers and leaked data from Xandr.

Microsoft said after the report that it would no longer allow Xandr to subscribe to the Global Disinformation Index.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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