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WORLD NEWS Thursday 28 January 2021
Rubbish-covered lake brings to light Balkans waste problem

By DARKO VOJINOVIC palities in Montenegro
Associated Press and three in Serbia, about
PRIBOJ, Serbia (AP) — Trucks 45,000 tons of waste are
and building machines are collected (per year),” said
parked on a river dam in Predrag Saponjic, the Lim
southwest Serbia but not for River hydropower plant sys-
construction work. Instead, tem manager. Looking at
huge cranes are being the rubbish-strewn lake, he
used to clear tons of gar- added that “even if only a
bage crammed at the foot fraction of that waste ends
of the power plant. up in the Lim River, we get
Serbia and other Balkan this.” Bosnia too has report-
nations are overwhelmed ed a garbage pileup that
by communal waste after endangers the hydroelec-
decades of neglect and tric dam on the Drina River,
lack of efficient waste- near the eastern town of
management policies in Visegrad. The Lim is one of
the countries aspiring to the tributaries of the Drina,
join the European Union. which makes their water-
Burning rubbish dumps can ways — and garbage flows
be seen from the roads, — closely connected.
plastic bags are hanging The two emerald-colored
from trees and islands of A boat pushes tons of garbage stuck at the foot of the hydro power plant at the Potpecko rivers — the Drina flows
waste are floating down accumulation lake near Priboj, in southwest Serbia, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Associated Press along the border between
the region’s rivers. The prob- Serbia and Bosnia — dur-
lem usually comes into fo- This has been the case at ber and early January. trunks and even reportedly ing summer are favored by
cus in winter, when swollen the Potpec accumulation The surface of the lake got a coffin. adventurers and water raf-
waters sweep over landfills, lake near the power plant covered in a thick layer of “Based on a recent study, ters who enjoy the winding
pushing the garbage to- after a spate of rainy and waste ranging from plastics we found out that in these waterways and seemingly
ward hydropower dams. snowy weather in Decem- to rusty metal scraps, tree towns, in the five munici- pristine nature. q
Maduro’s ‘miracle’ treatment for COVID-19 draws skeptics

By SCOTT SMITH and “It’s a powerful antiviral, tober, he notified the Pan to other nations as well. cian at the University of
JORGE RUEDA very powerful, that neutral- American Health Organiza- Dr. David Boulware, pro- Minnesota Medical School,
Associated Press izes the coronavirus.” tion that Venezuelan scien- fessor of medicine and an noted the lack of scientific
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) But his government has re- tists discovered a molecule infectious diseases physi- evidence.q
— Venezuela’s President leased no evidence. He that nullifies the replication
Nicolás Maduro appears even kept secret the name capacity of the new coro-
to be counting on yet an- of the “brilliant Venezuelan navirus. He hasn’t spoken
other “miracle” to save his mind” behind it, saying he of that development since.
citizens from COVID-19, needed to protect them. He’s also promoted a spe-
promoting a secretive solu- Scientists at home and cial herbal tea he claims
tion with no published sci- abroad remained skep- can fend off the virus and
entific evidence he claims tical. The local National other ailments.
will conquer the new coro- Academy of Medicine said Other leaders too have
navirus. it appeared be derived embraced solutions dis-
“Ten drops under the from the common herb missed by scientific studies.
tongue every four hours thyme. Former U.S. President Don-
and the miracle is done,” It’s not the first time the ald Trump and Brazil’s Jair
Maduro said in a televised Venezuelan leader has Bolsonaro both stubbornly
appearance on Sunday. promoted a cure. In Oc- touted an antimalarial drug
despite repeated studies
finding it ineffective and
possibly dangerous.
The new coronavirus hasn’t
hit Venezuela as hard as
other South American
countries such as Brazil,
Ecuador and Peru, though
many experts say that’s
likely because sanctions
against Maduro’s govern-
ment have sharply limited
travel there.
Maduro said the treatment,
which he called carvativir,
has been under testing for
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a
ceremony marking the start of the judicial year at the Supreme nine months among Ven-
Court in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. ezuelans ill with the coro-
Associated Press navirus. He said he plans to
distribute it nationwide and