'Ghost' cybercrime platform dismantled in global operation, 51 arrested

General view of the Europol building in The Hague, Netherlands December 12, 2019. REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File Photo

Updated
Sep 18, 2024,

THE HAGUE - An international law enforcement operation has dismantled an encrypted communication platform, known as Ghost, notorious for enabling large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering, Europol said on Wednesday.

The investigation led to the arrest of 51 suspects from multiple countries, with more arrests expected.

The platform had gained popularity among criminal organisations for its advanced security features and its dismantling marks a significant blow to global organised crime networks.


"This was truly a global game of cat and mouse, and today, the game is up," Europol's Deputy Executive Director Jean-Philippe Lecouffe told reporters.

The operation prevented several threats to life, dismantled a drug lab in Australia, and led to the global seizure of weapons, drugs, and over 1 million euro ($1.11 million) in cash, Europol said.

"Today we have made it clear that no matter how hidden criminal networks think they are, they can’t evade our collective effort," Europol's Executive Director Catherine De Bolle said, calling the Ghost platform "a lifeline for serious organised crime".

The operation was conducted with the help of authorities from Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, as part of a broader commitment to combat global organized crime.

As the investigation continues, further disruption of illegal activities is anticipated.

 REUTERS

Fake Kamala Harris hit-and-run story created by Russian troll farm: Report

A false claim that Kamala Harris caused a 2011 hit-and-run accident, leaving a 13-year-old girl paralysed, has been linked to a Russian disinformation campaign. Research by Microsoft identifies Storm-1516, a Kremlin-aligned group, as responsible for fabricating the story


Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is running for president in the November 5 US elections. (AP)


India Today World Desk
New Delhi,UPDATED: Sep 18, 2024
Written By: Girish Kumar Anshul

In Short

False claim about Kamala Harris hit-and-run linked to Russian disinformation

Claim spread by Russian group Storm-1516 using fake news site, actor

Storm-1516 known for misleading videos using fake whistleblowers, journalists


A false claim circulating on social media alleging that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris left a 13-year-old girl paralysed in a 2011 hit-and-run in San Francisco has been linked to a covert Russian disinformation campaign, according to new research by Microsoft.

Kamala Harris, 59, is running for president in the November 5 US elections against Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The claim was spread by the Russian group Storm-1516, which is associated with Kremlin-aligned troll farms. Microsoft’s research reveals that this group fabricated the story using a fake news website, KBSF-TV, and an actor posing as the victim.

Storm-1516 is known for producing misleading videos featuring on-screen or voice actors who impersonate whistleblowers or journalists that share false, scandalous information, experts say, according to a Reuters report.

The disinformation was disseminated through social media, including X, where it used the hashtag #HitAndRunKamala.

The video, shared by Aussie Cossack -- a self-described "Registered foreign agent for Sputnik News" -- has been viewed over 2.7 million times. Cossack urged his followers to spread the video and make it go viral.



According to a blog authored by Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center, Storm-1516 has previously created misleading videos with actors impersonating whistleblowers or journalists to push false narratives.

Microsoft’s blog highlighted that Russian operations faced challenges shifting focus from President Biden's campaign to the Democratic ticket after Biden’s exit from the 2024 race.

However, in August, Storm-1516 intensified its efforts, targeting Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, with fabricated conspiracy theories.

This incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of Russian influence operations. Earlier this month, the US Justice Department charged two employees of the Russian state media network RT with money laundering for allegedly hiring an American company to produce election-related content.

US officials have been reported to hold the belief that Russia aims to deepen political divisions within the US and reduce support for American military aid to Ukraine. Harris has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine if elected, reinforcing her commitment to assisting in the defence against Russia’s invasion.

With inputs from agencies

Palestine submits first draft resolution to UN to end Israeli occupation

September 18, 2024

The Palestinian Permanent Mission to the UN submitted a first draft resolution to the General Assembly demanding Israel end its presence in the occupied Palestinian territories within 12 months.

The move came after the General Assembly granted the mission additional rights and privileges to participate at the UN.

An emergency session was held at the 79th UN General Assembly on the legal consequences of Israel’s activities in occupied Palestinian territories.

UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang reiterated the International Court of Justice’s “advisory opinion” on Israel’s actions in occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

Yang emphasized that the UN, General Assembly and Security Council have a responsibility to take steps to end Israel’s illegal occupation.

“It is our collective duty as representatives of the international community to ensure that the principles of justice and the rule of law prevail,” he said.

He expressed hope for the session to “make a positive difference in the lives of the many who continue to suffer in this region and who look up to us to make the right decisions at this emergency special session.”

Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour said: “Palestine is an important part of universal history and the Palestinian people is an integral part of humanity. Neither our country nor our people will disappear. But that is no excuse for ignoring the existential threat they are facing.”

Emphasizing that “Palestinians want to live, not survive,” Mansour said: “Now the sky is full of children whose life was taken away way too soon and in the cruelest of ways, and the earth is full of children who have suffered, who were injured, paralyzed, orphaned, and traumatized.”

Over 2,100 murders ‘tip of a very big iceberg’ of threats to environmentalists: Researcher

‘Murders are just the most brutal form of attacks. They really are the tip of a very, very big iceberg,’ says Laura Furones of Global Witness

Burak Bir |18.09.2024 - TRT/AA


- Defenders are facing harassment, increasing criminalization, sexual violence and other dangers around the world, says Furones

- Killings are mostly in Global South countries, but activists are also under attack and being criminalized in the Global North, says expert

LONDON

The killings of over 2,100 land and environmental defenders over the past decade is just “the tip of a very, very big iceberg,” according to the lead author of a new report documenting violence against activists around the world.

Global Witness, an international NGO, recorded 196 murders of land and environmental activists in 2023, an increase from 177 in 2022.

That pushed the number of fatalities between 2012 and 2023 to 2,106, according to the report.

Speaking to Anadolu about the latest findings, Global Witness’ Laura Furones said 196 murders of land and environmental defenders “is a really horrible figure that should make us all really reflect.”

These figures are “painting a very, very worrying picture yet again,” she said.

“It’s not really given us any hope that things are getting any better … It’s higher than the last year, and over the period that Global Witness reported, which is between 2012 and 2023, that also brings the total figure over the 2,000-mark, which is sort of very symbolic, and speaks to the relentlessness of the attacks,” she said.

“I think what we’re also seeing is the climate crisis is accelerating, and we’re seeing the impacts of it more and more … and I think that’s how we also start to see the linkages between the climate crisis and the humanitarian crisis because they’re both actually the same thing, they go hand in hand.”

A breakdown of the data shows Latin America as the deadliest region for land and environment activists, with Colombia leading the count with 461 murders over the past decade, followed by Brazil at 401.

Other countries in the list are Philippines with 298, Mexico 203, Honduras 149, India 86, Guatemala 86, Democratic Republic of the Congo 74, Nicaragua 70, and Peru 58.

‘Silencing defenders’

Furones, senior advisor for Global Witness’ Land and Environmental Defenders Campaign, emphasized that attacks on the lives of activists are just part of the myriad of dangers they are facing.

“Murders are just the most brutal form of attacks. They really are the tip of a very, very big iceberg,” she said.

“We’re seeing, pretty much everywhere around the world, all other sorts of tactics … Those range from threats to harassment to criminalization, sexual violence … The list really goes on and on.”

The main aim of all this is “silencing defenders and making them stop the work,” she said.

While killings are mostly taking place in Global South countries, activists trying to peacefully protest against environmental destruction are also under attack and being criminalized in the Global North, Furones added.

“It’s particularly interesting and worrying to see the … increasing nature of criminalization charges all around the world,” she said.

“There are new laws in the US and the EU. There’s legislation being thrown at defenders turning them into criminals,” she said.

Peaceful demonstrators are being treated as criminals and “we’ve seen gagging laws in the EU that aim to silence defenders,” she added.

In some Asian countries, she pointed, even tax laws are being used to target and criminalize environmental activists.

Furones stressed the need for countries to step up, offer more protection, and ensure that the perpetrators are held to account.

“One very serious challenge defenders face around the world is that they’re confronted with impunity. It’s very rare that we see any cases resolved and leading to any sort of criminal charges against the murderer,” she said.

“What we really would like states to do is to make murders stop. That starts with preventive measures. It’s everything to do with preventing those attacks happening in the first place.”

This can be achieved by ensuring a safe environment for defenders and making sure that freedom of expression and media freedom are protected, she said.

“That’s not happening in so many contexts. Civic space is very, very compromised, and as a result, attacks are on the rise,” warned Furones.

Women authors from across continents dominate Booker Prize 2024 shortlist

American writer Percival Everett is the only male among this year’s finalists announced in London this week for his Mark Twain ode ‘James’

PTI London Published 18.09.24, 


(From Left-Right): Samantha Harvey, Charlotte Wood, Rachel KushnerTTO Graphics

For the first time in the 55-year history of the Booker Prize, the shortlist has a strong feminine flavour with five out of the six authors in the running for the prestigious GBP 50,000 literary award being women.

British writer Samantha Harvey has been shortlisted for her space set novel ‘Orbital’, American Rachel Kushner for spy thriller ‘Creation Lake’, Canadian Anne Michaels for her familial tale ‘Held’, Australian Charlotte Wood for her philosophical ‘Stone Yard Devotional’ and Yael van der Wouden, the first Dutch author to be shortlisted, for her debut novel ‘The Safekeep’. American writer Percival Everett is the only male among this year’s finalists announced in London this week for his Mark Twain ode ‘James’.

“I am enormously proud of this shortlist of six books that have lived with us. We have spent months sifting, challenging, questioning – stopped in our tracks by the power of the contemporary fiction that we have been privileged to read,” said Edmund de Waal, chair of the 2024 judging panel.

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“The six books on the shortlist bring a diversity of perspective, style and subject matter, from those that hold the reader close to those that take the reader for a spin. It’s a pleasure to bring new authors to the Booker library and welcome back those who have been here before, and I can’t wait for even more readers to immerse themselves in the worlds created by all of this year’s cohort,” said Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation.

Last year, there were two women on the shortlist, including British Indian Chetna Maroo for her tennis allegory ‘Western Lane’ and Canadian author Sarah Bernstein for ‘Study of Obedience’. The Booker Prize was last won by a woman in 2019, when it was shared by Bernardine Evaristo for ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ and Margaret Atwood for ‘The Testaments’, and in 1997, Indian author Arundhati Roy won the literary prize for her semi-autobiographical novel 'The God of Small Things'.

This year’s shortlist is made up of stories which transport readers around the world and beyond the Earth’s atmosphere: from the battlefields of the First World War to a spiritual retreat in rural Australia; from America’s Deep South in the 19th century to a remote Dutch house in the 1960s; from the International Space Station to a cave network beneath the French countryside; exploring the gravitational pull of home and family; the contested nature of truth and history; and the extent to which we reveal our real selves to others.

“My copies of these novels are dog-eared, scribbled in. They have been carried everywhere – surely the necessary measure of a seriously good novel. Our final meeting to choose this shortlist together was punctuated by delight at them. They are books that made us want to keep on reading, to ring up friends and tell them about them, novels that inspired us to write, to score music, and even – in my case – to go back to my wheel and make pots,” added De Waal.

The Booker Prize 2024 ceremony will take place on November 12 at Old Billingsgate in London, with the winner receiving GBP 50,000 and a trophy named Iris after Booker winner Iris Murdoch. Each of the shortlisted authors will receive GBP 2,500 and a bespoke bound edition of their book.

Which countries still use pagers and why?

Thousands of pagers used by members of the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah exploded on September 17, killing nine people and injuring nearly 3,000. Pagers are obsolete devices but were used by Hezbollah to evade detection by Israeli agencies. However, several countries across the world still use pagers. Here's why.


Then US President Bill Clinton with a pager. Pagers were at their peak in the US in the 1990s and 2000s. 

Priyanjali Narayan
New Delhi,

UPDATED: Sep 18, 2024 

In Short

Hezbollah was using pagers, considered obsolete, to hoodwink Israeli spy agencies

But pagers are still used in varied sectors in the US, Japan, New Zealand and Germany

Pagers used by healthcare providers, firefighters, hospitality services among others


Nine people were killed after pagers used by the Lebanon-based terror group, Hezbollah, exploded on September 17. The explosion wounded around 3,000 others. Experts say the supply chain was intruded into to rig the devices with explosives and explosions were triggered remotely. Pagers were used by Hezbollah to bypass the Israeli intelligence agencies that were allegedly snooping on its fighters through their cellphones.
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Though considered an obsolete communication device, pagers are still used for several purposes across the world.

WHAT ARE PAGERS?

Pagers are small and portable communication devices which receive and display messages. They came prior to the spread of smartphones across the world. They function on radio frequencies, making them the more efficient choice in areas with poor networks. They also have a long battery life.

WHEN PAGERS ENTERED INDIA RIDING ON LIBERALISATION

India had a short era of pagers. At the stroke of the hour of economic liberalisation, in 1991, the pager found its way to the Indian market.

In the West, it was used primarily by people working in courier services. But in India, it was a marker of wealth.

The pager was a momentary link as India transitioned from the land phone to the cellphone. Mobile phones came close on the heels of pagers and made the one-way communication device obsolete.

However, there are several countries where pagers are still being used.

WHERE PAGERS ARE STILL BEING USED

1. Japan: Pocket bells or pagers are used in Japan in hospitals and areas with poor cell reception. In an emergency, they are considered more reliable than smartphones, according to The Japan Times.

It is also used in various industrial settings, especially in manufacturing and construction services.

The use of the pager is still prevalent in Japan. It is used for healthcare services and industrial settings. (Image: AFP)

2. New Zealand: Pagers have been used for decades and are still used by the nursing staff at the bedside and medical experts who are responsible for providing advice, according to the National Library of Medicine.

3. United States: Pagers have been mainstream in the US. From Gilmore Girls to FRIENDS and many other popular shows from the 90s show the use of pagers by their main characters.

A scene from Gilmore Girls where Rory is seen using a pager. (Image: X)

Now, pagers are used in hospitals. They are also used in hospitality services to improve customer experience, sometimes even informing guests when their table is notified without facing an overcrowded waiting area, reports QSR Magazine.

They are also used by the elderly to reduce accidents and to be tracked by their caregivers in assisted living, according to Healthcare Pro.

Fire services also use pagers for sending an immediate alert, and they ensure all personnel reach quickly, according to Firehouse.

4. Germany: Pagers are used in logistics companies to ensure quick communication where mobile signals are weak, according to German media outlet Deutsche Welle.

5. Brazil: In Brazil, pagers are used by first responders. They prefer its use to its connectivity and network in all areas.

Privacy, simplicity and urgency are all provided by pagers and, therefore, they have not completely become a thing of history.

"As simple as pagers are, they rarely suffer from congestion as cellphone networks. Recent events have shown that pagers work even in times of natural disasters, as opposed to cellphones that ring busy, dead air or all circuits are busy, and pagers have a unique facility in Group Calling where large numbers of pagers can be paged simultaneously," reads the website of Pagers Direct, which sells pagers.
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It also mentions how pagers do not come with the risk of "robo calls" or AI-generated calls, which now bothers many cellphone users. Although recent research across the world has questioned its use and discussed its limitations, this does not stop many crucial sectors from using it.

While pagers have been used to wound and kill several people in Lebanon, they have also been used to save lives of hundreds and thousands of people across the world. From Japan to the US, pagers, which are considered obsolete, are being used for efficiency.

State of shock, disbelief in Lebanon following Israeli-linked pager blasts

The intelligence breach shown by the attack, and the scale of it, were unfathomable to a population grappling with crisis after crisis.


Suzanne Abou Said
Lebanon
18 September, 2024

Families across Lebanon spent the night in discussions about what happened, how it happened, and what happens to them next. [Getty]

A day after a chain of explosive pager devices injured over 2,500 people and killed at least 12 across Lebanon, the country is in utter shock. Two of the dead were children, and four were medical personnel, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government point to Israel as the culprit behind the indiscriminate attack.

It was a sleepless night for many. The intelligence breach shown by the attack, and the scale of it, were unfathomable to a population grappling with a years-long economic crisis and an unwavering fear of a full-fledged war with Israel. Families across Lebanon spent the night in discussions about what happened, how it happened, and what happens to them next.

The state of nationwide panic was mirrored by sirens of ambulances screeching across all the country throughout Tuesday, and continued Wednesday morning albeit at a slower rate, as the injured were ushered to 100 hospitals, with the majority sustaining eye injuries. A massive turn-up of people queued at blood donation centres to show solidarity to the wounded, but also to a debilitated healthcare sector worn out by recurring crises.

They also showed up to hear what everyone else was thinking.

"This is as much an attack on civilians as it is on the resistance cadre, because the result of this aggression goes beyond the zones of conflict, but rather targets people in their homes and behind the lines of military engagement," political analyst Ali Hammadi told The New Arab.

Following the late August assassination of senior Hezbollah member Fouad Shukr by an Israeli attack, the beleaguered Lebanese population has been braced for an all out war. At least 120,000 Lebanese people were already internally displaced, and government entities as well as non-profits were gearing up for the escalation both sides vowed to ignite.

Since then, the tension quietened down, despite ongoing trade of fire at the border between the two warring entities, and people grew more hopeful that the vows of escalation were overblown.

But this attack reignited people's fears.

"This is a qualitative shift in terms of the conflict and the scene, and what comes after it is certainly different from what preceded it. This is a violation of the rules of engagement, and therefore there will be a response that is proportionate to this aggression," he explained. "The Zionist enemy attacked a wide segment, in a vast geographical area that extended from southern Lebanon to It's far north, east and west, reaching Syria."

Hezbollah has already vowed to retaliate for the attack that has injured hundreds of its members and allies, including Iran's ambassador to Beirut.

"Politically and militarily, it is a transformation that requires a high-level response, which could happen at any time, perhaps today, tomorrow, or in a week, according to the circumstances of the battlefield," explained the analyst, noting that Hezbollah's approach had been to avoid a full scale military engagement but to offer support to Hamas' resistance against Israel by dividing their military power on multiple fronts.

"But since the enemy carried out an aggression that is this dangerous, and broken red lines, the response needs to be equivalent to it," he concluded.
Next day in Beirut

Since early Wednesday morning, Beirut's streets seemed calmer than normal. According to a bank teller in the capital, it took her half the time to get to her work today. "People are in shock. This is an attack like no other, and everyone is trying to make sense of it," said the young woman, asking not to be named. "Perhaps the only upside is the unity it has created".

On social media and in real life conversations, people across the country's wide political spectrum have strongly condoned the attacks, and expressed concern for the security and future of their country.

Shops that have opened in the capital's boulevards were largely vacant.

Unlike in previous scares, several interviewees said they're no longer hoarding goods and essential items. One man, who asked not to be named, said, "We don't have the money for this any more. And we've been through so many of these scares that we've grown indifferent."

Ali Monzer, a resident of Al-Dahya which has a strong Hezbollah presence, said he hopes for an escalation to take place. "This needs to blow up once and for all. And we're aware that a war has one of two results: either victory or martyrdom. And we're happy with both," said the mobile phones' shop owner, who ruled out—from his own expertise—that the blasts were the result of lithium batteries overheating, as is speculated by many.

"This is a security and intelligence breach. There is no doubt about it," he said.

This piece is published in collaboration with Egab.

Acid condoms, sunglass-case bombs, and the story of Israel's worst intelligence failure

Israel's famed intelligence agencies are synonymous with slick executions, under-the-radar operations, and a legendary spy network. But even Israel messes up sometimes. Like Egypt 1954.


Former Israeli Defence Minister Pinhas Lavon (L) is known for Israel's worst intelligence failure, in Egypt, during the reign of Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser. Photos: Getty Images


Ananya Bhattacharya
New Delhi,

UPDATED: Sep 18, 2024 

In Short

Israel's intelligence agencies are famous for their impeccable operations

The Hezbollah pager explosions have a strong Mossad signature, for example

However, even Israeli intelligence messes up bad


Bungling bad is not what you associate with Israel's famed intelligence agencies. The Mossad, Aman and Shin Bet are usually synonymous with slick executions, impeccable operations, and a spy network that is the stuff of legends now. The Hezbollah pager explosions have Mossad signature all over, but don't bet on an acknowledgement from Israel. That's just the way they do things. Under the radar, in secret, an example for spy agencies all over the world. But even Israel messes up. Sometimes, bad.

There are intelligence failures and then there is Egypt 1954. This is the story of Israel's worst intelligence failure.

Storm in the Prime Minister's Office

It was 1954, and David Ben-Gurion had just retired and left the Prime Minister's office to Moshe Sharett. Sharett found himself in a fix. He was unable to exert his authority over the Defence Minister, Pinhas Lavon, who was quite the union boss adept at industry tactics. Military intricacies, however, were another matter.

Former Israeli Defence Minister Pinhas Lavon. Photo: Getty Images

Enter two young, ambitious men: the Chief of Staff at the Defence Ministry, Moshe Dayan; and the Director, Shimon Peres. Dayan and Peres were itching to make their mark and were keener on consulting Ben-Gurion than the new Prime Minister.

At this juncture, Aman had the ear of the government. Mossad, the other intelligence agency in Israel, was sidelined when Lavon came to power. Israel originally had laid down that Mossad had to be involved in all special operations in enemy territory, but Lavon threw the arrangement out of the window. Aman was an aggressive beast that had just been handed powers whose consequences no one foresaw.
Tsunami in the Suez

Neighbour Egypt was going through its own turmoil. King Farouk was overthrown. The new man in Cairo, Gamal Abdel Nasser, had ambitions of becoming the leader of the Arab world. This Arab socialist dictator's first priority was gaining control over the Suez Canal and getting rid of the British military presence in the Canal Zone.

An Anglo-French company controlled the Suez at the time. Col Nasser's agenda meant bad news for Israel. The British out of the Suez Canal would open Sinai up to a probable Egyptian attack. The new state of Israel couldn't afford that headache; neither could it deal with a tightened Arab blockade against them.

The West's attitude to the guy in Cairo was anathema to Israel. Israel was getting desperate. The final trigger came in the summer of 1954, when the Aman chanced upon a plan by the British to evacuate the Suez bases. "Something must be done," was the refrain in the defence corridors.

The 'something' that was eventually done, went on to become Israel's worst bungle on foreign land.

Israel planned to set up a terrorist network within Egypt, pretending to be an Arab one. The targets were British and American. The British Council and American Information Center in Cairo were both to be attacked, for which, the Israelis hoped, Egyptians would be blamed. They hoped Colonel Nasser would go up against his old enemies, the Moslem Brothers, and the Anglo-Saxons would begin to doubt his regime in Cairo.

If Morgan Freeman were to narrate this, he would have said it wasn't a great idea. Well, anyone narrating this would call it a disaster with a Capital D that no one quite knew how Israel went ahead with.

Something, something

The 'something' was named 'Operation Suzanna'.

Israel dialled up Colonel Mordechai Ben-Tsur to get together a motley group of Egyptian Jews who were to be trained to carry out the attacks. Mossad and Shin Bet, Israel's General Security Service, were both involved in Operation Suzanna.
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The group of Egyptian Jews in charge of the operation were all cosmopolitan and charming, but none quite tough or experienced as is quintessentially Israel. They were also extremely enthusiastic about the operation and began having meetings in public places or one of their homes. They barely knew how to operate the radio sets given to them by Israel. They were, anyway, looked at with suspicion by Egyptian intelligence. The operation threatened to put all of the Egyptian Jews at risk.
Acid condoms and glass-case bombs

The operatives of Operation Suzanna had to fall back on their wit and bare-bones training. They improvised 'bombs' - condoms filled with acid, and spectacle cases filled with explosives - and waited for orders from the homeland.

In July 1954, a bizarre order arrived, writes author Ronald Payne in the book Mossad: Israel's Most Secret Service: "Begin immediate action to prevent or postpone the Anglo-Egyptian agreement. The targets are, one, cultural and informational institutions. Two, economic institutions. Three, cars, British representatives and other British citizens. Four, anything else that might complicate diplomatic relations. Inform us of the possibility of action in the Canal Zone. Listen in to us daily at seven o'clock on waveband G."

Some small explosives went off at the post office in Alexandria. The group then contrived to place similar small explosives in sunglass cases in the libraries of the US Information Service in Alexandria and Cairo. They pieced together makeshift bombs to place at cinemas and railway stations across Cairo to mark the anniversary of Colonel Nasser's revolution, you know, to fake an Egyptian hand behind it all. All of these bombs turned out to be damp squibs. But the worst was yet to come.
Amateur guy, premature explosion

In Alexandria, 19-year-old Philip Nathanson waited in a cinema queue with a spectacle case in his pocket. He wanted to get it in, when the case exploded in his pocket. Nathanson was saved by the special branch of Egyptian police, but the ruse was off. They realised what caused the explosion. Within hours, the Israeli network collapsed like a pack of cards.

The Egyptians also caught hold of Max Bennett, a top Mossad agent, who was on business in the neighbouring country. His radio malfunctioned. He had to get in touch with the amateur Egyptian Jew network when the Egyptians swooped in on him. This was a massive blow to the Mossad, who realised that Bennett's capture left them with no other spy in Egypt. It was a time when they most needed their intelligence operatives in Egypt.

'A bloody Zionist gang' is caught

Within four days of the Cairo cinema mess, the Egyptians went to town boasting about the arrest of ten men and a woman, 'a bloody Zionist gang'. Two cell leaders were hanged in Cairo in January 1955. Max Bennett, meanwhile, used a rusty nail in prison to open up his veins and kill himself. He was a trained spy, after all, unlike the amateurs hanged in Cairo.

Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, the second President of Egypt. Photo: Getty Images

The other agents that Egypt caught received long prison sentences. The sole woman, Victorine Ninio, tried to kill herself twice, unsuccessfully. Finally, in 1968, a prisoner exchange got her home to Israel, where she received the welcome fitting of a national heroine. Her wedding three years later was attended by Golda Meir and top intelligence officers.

Who let the Aman out?

Israel wasn't happy. The government wasn't happy. The public needed answers. How could Israel make this bad a mess in enemy territory?

A hasty hysterical resignation by defence minister Pinhas Lavon confirmed it for all. The departure of Lavon led to a colossal crisis in the government that could be solved only when David Ben-Gurion had to be called back from exile to take on the reins of the defence ministry once again. Back in kibbutz clothes, from his Negev retreat, Ben-Gurion appeared in the Knesset to take control of the situation after the 'Lavon Affair'.
No answer is the best answer

Operation Suzanna poisoned Israel politics for many years. A series of secret hearings by the investigation committee found intelligence and government folks at each other's necks. While the military officers claimed that defence minister Lavon signed off the Egyptian bombing campaign, the latter pinned the blame on Aman. Israel never answered in public who was responsible for the Egypt fiasco. A vague, open-ended statement was the best it did, regretting that they were 'unable to answer the question put to us by the Prime Minister'.

Former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Photo: Getty Images

"We can only say that we were not convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the senior officer did not receive orders from the minister of defence. We are equally uncertain that the minister of defence did, in fact, give the orders attributed to him," read the statement, writes Ronald Payne in his book, Mossad: Israel's Most Secret Service.

Operation Suzanna also set the protocol for any intelligence failures that Israel encountered in the following years. Whenever a 'security mishap' happened, they put out statements that claimed that it would be best not to dig further, since it was a question of the security of the country.

True to it, till date, Israel has always shrugged off embarrassing affairs, refusing to confirm or deny any hand of its intelligence. But sometimes the signs are a little too strong to ignore. Like the exploding pagers in Lebanon.

Published By:
ananya bhattacharya
Published On:
Sep 18, 2024

Google wins legal bid to overturn 1.5 billion euro antitrust fine in EU digital ad case

Exhibitors work on laptop computers in front of an illuminated sign of the Google logo at the industrial fair Hannover Messe in Hanover, Germany. 

(AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)

By Kelvin Chan - Associated Press - Wednesday, September 18, 2024


LONDON (AP) — Google won a court challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) European Union antitrust fine imposed five years ago that targeted its online advertising business.

The EU’s General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer.

The commission’s ruling applied to a narrow portion of Google’s ad business: ads that the U.S. tech giant sold next to Google search results on third-party websites.

Regulators had accused Google of inserting exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google’s rivals. The commission said when it issued the penalty that Google’s behavior resulted in advertisers and website owners having less choice and likely facing higher prices that would be passed on to consumers.

But the General Court said the commission “committed errors” when it assessed those clauses. The commission failed to demonstrate that Google’s contracts deterred innovation, harmed consumers or helped the company hold on to and strengthen its dominant position in national online search advertising markets, it said.

The ruling can be appealed, but only on points of law, to the Court of Justice, the bloc’s top court.

The commission said in a brief statement that it “will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps.”

Google said it changed its contracts in 2016 to remove the provisions in question, even before the commission imposed its decision.

“We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” Google said in a statement. “We will review the full decision closely.”

The company’s legal victory comes a week after it lost a final challenge against a separate EU antitrust case for its shopping comparison service that also involved a hefty fine.

They were among three antitrust penalties totaling about 8 billion euros that the commission punished Google with in the previous decade. The penalties marked the beginning of an era of intensifying scrutiny for Big Tech companies.

Since then, Google has faced escalating pressure on both sides of the Atlantic over its digital ad business. It’s currently battling the Justice Department in a U.S. federal court over allegations that its dominance over the technology that controls the sale of billions of internet display ads constitutes an illegal monopoly.

British competition regulators this month accused the company of abusing its dominance in the country’s digital ad market and giving preference to its own services.

EU antitrust enforcers carrying out their own investigation suggested last year that breaking up the company was the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its digital ad business.

ST Explains: What’s a Sumatra squall?
Trees were uprooted in Choa Chu Kang Grove after a heavy storm battered Singapore on the night of Sept 17.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN


Fatimah Mujibah
Sep 18, 2024,


SINGAPORE – The storm that swept into Singapore on Sept 17 lasted barely an hour, but left its mark across the island.

From Tampines in the east to Mount Faber in the south and Yishun in the north, netizens took to Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to document felled trees and broken branches strewn over roads.

There were also other unusual instances, such as a pair of trousers seen flying among high-rise buildings, pool furniture flying across and landing in the pool and various tableware pieces flying at an outdoor restaurant as patrons attempted to enjoy their meal.

Elsewhere in the region, Malaysia and Brunei were also affected by the extreme winds and rainfall. The Malaysian island of Penang had more than 200 toppled trees over two days from Sept 15, while Brunei’s fire and rescue department personnel attended to 72 emergency calls over fallen trees and 20 calls over roofs blown off on Sept 17.

Dr Matthias Roth, a professor of urban climatology at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Geography, said the severe weather “had many of the characteristics of a typical Sumatra squall, which is usually accompanied by a sudden increase in wind speed, gustiness and heavy rainfall”.

Just a day earlier, the National Environment Agency’s Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) had warned that the Republic might experience the effects of such squalls, with widespread thundery showers and gusty winds on a few days in the next two weeks, and more rainfall expected at the end of the month

The Straits Times looks at what Sumatra squalls are, how this weather phenomenon affects Singapore and the rest of South-east Asia and if Singapore can expect to see more of such weather in the upcoming months.




What are Sumatra squalls and what causes them?

Sumatra squalls are a common and vigorous line of thunderstorms travelling rapidly towards the South China Sea.

“The causes of this phenomenon are complex and include convection, which is an upward transport of heat from the surface into the atmosphere, over the warm waters of the Malacca Strait, and converging land breezes passing between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula,” said Prof Roth.

“Besides intense convection, Sumatra squalls also possess strong vertical wind shear – a variation in wind speed at a height which, in combination, results in heavy rainfall and strong winds.”

Sumatra squalls typically last for a few hours after forming early in the morning or at night and may occur at any time of the year, resulting in heavy rainfall. The squalls are most common during inter- and South-west monsoon seasons, such as April to May, and October to November.

Prof Roth added that squalls affect Singapore a few days every month during this period, occurring overnight or in the morning.

During this period, severe flooding, fallen trees, damage to objects and properties and power outages can happen.

The disruptive weather system can affect up to 85 million people in the region, according to a study published in 2018.

When was the last time Singapore had storms like this?

The Republic faced its worst wind gust in Tengah on April 25, 1984 – at a speed of 144.4kmh.

In 2018, ST reported the record was almost broken as wind speed hit a high of 133.3kmh in Tengah on the afternoon of March 30, 2018. The storm, which brought widespread thundery showers, wreaked damage over places such as chicken farms and plant nurseries.

Heavy rainfall was detected over western parts of the island like Jurong and Choa Chu Kang, said the MSS at the time.

In 2010, there was another occurrence where wind speed hit a high of 90.7kmh on Nov 29.

How can I protect myself and my belongings from such wild weather?

During the inter-monsoon season, which is expected to take place from October to November, you can expect several rainy thunderstorms at any time of the day.

Members of the public can subscribe to an SMS alert service by the MSS which issues warnings on rising water levels in canals or drains and or/ heavy rain in Singapore.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in an advisory that residents can secure or move items placed outdoors, such as toys, bicycles, potted plants and heavy objects, indoors and away from the windows.

Remain indoors when the storm appears to have stopped as the winds may pick up again after a short period of calm.

When the storm is over, check the surroundings for broken glass, fallen trees, broken power cables and other hazards.