Thursday morning news: February 9, 2023

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Twitter hearing » Lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled former Twitter executives Wednesday about censoring conservative voices and suppressing a New York Post news story about Hunter Biden.

Former Twitter legal chief Vijaya Gadde:

GADDE: In hindsight, Twitter should have reinstated the Post account immediately.

And Yoel Roth, the former head of global trust and safety, said blocking the story was a mistake, but the move was not politically motivated.

ROTH: Twitter noticed activity related to the laptop that, at first glance, bore a lot of similarities to the 2016 Russian hack and leak operation targeting the DNC.

The Chairman of the Oversight Committee, James Comer, suggested that internal Twitter communications showed that Democrats and FBI officials colluded with Twitter to suppress certain information.

COMER: Twitter, under the leadership of our witnesses today, was a private company the federal government used to accomplish what it constitutionally cannot: limit the free exercise of speech.

Comer referenced documents released by current Twitter owner Elon Musk.

China’s spy balloons » The U.S. military says the Chinese spy balloon that it shot down off the South Carolina coast this week was just one of many.

Pentagon Spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder.

RYDER: This is what we assess as part of a larger Chinese surveillance balloon program. You've heard us talk in the past about the fact that this is a program that's been operated for several years.

The State Department says it has learned of other Chinese balloons operating over several continents and has shared information about the spy program with dozens of countries.

Earthquake relief, death toll » The death toll from earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has now topped 12,000.

Governments and non-profit groups across the globe are rushing aid to the devastated region.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken:

BLINKEN: Across both countries, we’ve deployed experienced emergency managers, paramedics, planners, others, along with about 170,000 pounds of specialized tools and equipment.

Meantime, rescue workers say hopes of finding additional survivors are dimming with each passing day, but hope is not lost. Experts say some could survive for a week or more under the rubble, depending on injuries and weather.

Putin likely signed off on missile supply in Malaysia Airlines shoot-down » A team of international investigators says Russia most likely supplied the missile used to shoot down a Malaysian Airlines jet in 2014.

Nearly 300 people boarded the plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All aboard were killed when the jet went down over Ukraine.

Dutch investigator Andy Kraag.

KRAAG: We’ve reached our limits. We’ve done everything that we can within our limits and the next answers lie in Russia.

Investigators believe Vladimir Putin himself signed off on supplying missiles to Russian-backed separatists, including the one that downed the jetliner.

The team still doesn’t have enough evidence to prosecute any suspects and officially suspended the investigation.

Zelenskyy in UK » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with French and German leaders in Paris on Wednesday.

The meeting came hours after Zelenskyy made a surprise trip to London where he spoke to British lawmakers. And he once again asked Western leaders to send fighter jets to Kyiv.

ZELENSKYY: And I appeal to you with the world's most simple and yet most important words. Combat aircrafts for Ukraine, wings for freedom.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that British forces will begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly combat aircraft.

Zelenskyy was also invited to attend a European Union summit in Brussels today, but it was unclear if he would attend.

FL Disney district bill » Walt Disney is one step closer to losing control of its own private kingdom near Orlando.

Lawmakers unveiled a bill this week that hands over control of Disney’s private Reedy Creek jurisdiction to the state of Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis:

DESANTIS: Disney is no longer going to have self-government.

Critics worry the move will shift the burden of paying for services in the district to taxpayers. But the governor says not so.

DESANTIS: Disney is going to pay its fair share of taxes and Disney is going to honor the debt.

Disney’s private government gives it unprecedented powers to decide what to build and how to build it at Disney World, issuing bonds.

It could even build its own nuclear plant if it wanted.

Rollins College professor emeritus Rick Foglesong told tv station WOKV:

FOGLESONG: I came to call it a Vatican with mouse ears.

Florida’s GOP-led legislature began taking a closer look at Disney’s half-century-old sweetheart deal after the company delved into politics last year, publicly campaigning against a parental rights law at the behest of LGBT activists.

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

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