It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Hearing takes a bizarre turn as Republican demands to know if Biden nominee believes in God
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) hammered one of President Joe Biden's nominees, demanding to know about his religion. A VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT
In the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, Justice Department nominee Hampton Dellinger was berated by Kennedy, who asked, "Do you believe in God?"
The question was about Kennedy's anti-choice position, something that isn't likely to be an issue at the DOJ, but at the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Did it even occur to you that some people may base their position on abortion on their faith?" Kennedy ranted.
"I sincerely appreciate that people have a different position on abortion than I do," said Dellinger. "I recognize the difference between someone saying something inartfully as a private citizen and working as a lawyer, and I think I've got a 30-year track record of being open-minded."
Slate reporter Mark Joseph Stern noted that when the shoe was on the other foot, Democrats weren't allowed to ask Republican nominees any questions that might relate to religion, even if their religion influences their views on public policy. For Republicans, however, it's suddenly acceptable. He recalled when Amy Coney Barrett was asked about Griswold v. Connecticut, the contraception law, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) flipped his lid, claiming that the question was "religious bigotry" against Catholics.
See Stern's comments and the video of Kennedy below:
As Robinhood (HOOD) prepares for its IPO on July 29 in a bid for a $35 billion valuation, some analysts warn that the company's business model — specifically its reliance on payment for order flow (PFOF) — is an unseemly practice that won't last.
“This IPO is effectively selling investors on exploiting other investors,” David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "The whole payment-for-order-flow business model is probably not going to be long for this world... it's a legalized version of front-running."
Founded in 2013, Robinhood democratized investing for retail traders by offering zero-commission trading, a practice that was subsequently adopted by other brokerages. (There are roughly 18 million accounts on the platform, with a majority of those users being first-time investors.)
And instead of relying on commissions, Robinhood primarily generates revenue through PFOF — that is, by routing trades through third-party trading firms instead of stock exchanges
The practice is controversial given the potential for those third-party trading firms to leverage the transaction data provided by brokerages like Robinhood to make their own trades based on that information, an illegal practice known as front-running.
“Payment for order flow raises a number of important questions,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in June. “Do broker-dealers have inherent conflicts of interest? If so, are customers getting the best execution in the context of that conflict?”
In addition to Robinhood, some major brokerages use the practice: TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, and Charles Schwab saw revenues from PFOF triple in 2020.
That said, Robinhood is singularly dependent on the practice: In 2020, according to the company's S-1 filing, Robinhood derived 75% of its $959 million revenue in 2020 from PFOF.
“Some of the larger players that do take payment for order flow are able to probably get away or be able to run their business without that revenue because they have so much more scale in terms of assets and the ability to generate revenue from other sources, which Robinhood does not have,” Trainer said.
3D-printed Robinhood logo is seen in front of U.S. dollar banknote in this illustration taken, July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Robinhood retail investors 'selling away their trading intentions'
Trainer questioned how long PFOF, which is banned by the U.K. financial regulatory body, will remain legal in the U.S.
“There are some businesses out there... like M1 and Public, who are very outspoken about not taking payment for order flow and really standing up for doing what's right for investors and not really sort of selling away their trading intentions to Wall Street insiders,” Trainer said.
“And they are finding a way to make their business model work that way,” he continued. “So I think there is a way to make the online brokerage business work with a little more integrity and without the conflicts of interest we see at Robinhood.”
At the same time, as Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has previously noted, PFOF is a well-known and somewhat regulated space within the financial industry.
"I don't believe that regulators can crack down on payment for order flow because payment for order flow has been going on at Wall Street for 200 years," Interactive Brokers' Thomas Peterffy told Yahoo Finance.
Trainer argued that while Robinhood's lobbying efforts may stave off regulators for now, investors may be less forgiving as time goes on.
“As there's more light shined on this dark corner of the online investing world, how much are investors going to want to give their trades and give their time and equity and trust to a firm that's effectively selling off information... to Wall Street insiders?” he said. “That kind of goes against the whole Robinhood ethos, right? So I just don't know how long that trick works.”
Grace is an assistant editor for Yahoo Finance and a UX writer for Yahoo products.
Jewish co-founders of Ben & Jerry's say they 'unequivocally support' the company's decision to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank to boycott Israeli settlements
Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield co-founded the ice cream chain in 1978 and sold it to the British conglomerate Unilever in 2000
They praised the actions of the company they founded in an article on Wednesday for The New York Times
The op-ed comes after Axios reported that the Israeli government formed a special task force to pressure the ice cream chain into reversing its decision
The boycott has also prompted backlash from members of the Jewish community
Franchise owners in Manhattan pledged to donate to Israel and towns on Long Island imposed their own bans on the company
The Jewish co-founders of Ben & Jerry's have said that they 'unequivocally support' the company's decision to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank to boycott Israeli settlements.
Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who co-founded the ice cream chain in 1978 and sold it to the British conglomerate Unilever in 2000, endorsed the decision in an op-ed for the The New York Times on Wednesday.
It followed an Axios report revealed that the Israeli government formed a special task force to pressure the ice cream chain into reversing its decision
The boycott has also prompted backlash from members of the Jewish community in the US - as franchise owners in Manhattan pledged to donate to Israel and towns on Long Island in New York imposed their own bans on the company.
Ben & Jerry's cofounders Bennett Cohen (left) and Jerry Greenfield (right) penned an op-ed on Wednesday to say that they 'unequivocally support' the company's decision to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank to boycott Israeli settlements
An Israeli flag is seen on a delivery truck outside Ben & Jerry's factory in Be'er Tuvia
'We are the founders of Ben & Jerry's. We are also proud Jews. It's part of who we are and how we've identified ourselves for our whole lives. As our company began to expand internationally, Israel was one of our first overseas markets. We were then, and remain today, supporters of the State of Israel,' Cohen and Greenfield wrote.
'But it's possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies, just as we've opposed policies of the U.S. government.'
Cohen and Greenfield continued: 'As such, we unequivocally support the decision of the company to end business in the occupied territories, which the international community, including the United Nations, has deemed an illegal occupation.'
The businessmen noted that they no longer have control over the company's operations but praised Ben & Jerry's for the 'especially brave' decision and said the company is 'on the right side of history'.
'Ending the sales of ice cream in the occupied territories is one of the most important decisions the company has made in its 43-year history,' they wrote.
Cohen and Greenfield continued: 'Even though it undoubtedly knew that the response would be swift and powerful, Ben & Jerry's took the step to align its business and operations with its progressive values.'
'That we support the company's decision is not a contradiction nor is it anti-Semitic. In fact, we believe this act can and should be seen as advancing the concepts of justice and human rights, core tenets of Judaism.'
The co-founders noted that Ben & Jerry's distinctly decided to halt sales in the territories which Israel occupies - not the nation of Israel itself.
'The decision outside Israel's democratic borders is not a boycott of Israel,' they wrote. 'The Ben & Jerry's statement did not endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.'
Cohen and Greenfield added: 'As Jewish supporters of the State of Israel, we fundamentally reject the notion that it is anti-Semitic to question the policies of the State of Israel.'
Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS movement, has said the movement had been urging Ben & Jerry's to pull out of Israel for years.
Ben & Jerry's had announced last week that it would no longer produce ice cream for Israeli settlements on occupied lands
Ben & Jerry's Israel CEO says 'I refuse' ice-cream ban decision
As noted by Axios, the Israeli government is worried other companies will now draw that same distinction between Israel and the West Bank settlements.
In its statement, the company had said it would be 'inconsistent' with its values to sell ice cream 'in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.'
'Although Ben & Jerry's will no longer be sold in the OPT, we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement. We will share an update on this as soon as we're ready,' the company said.
The company had also announced in the statement that it would not be renewing its license agreement with the Israeli company that manufactures and distributes the ice cream Israel.
Board chair Anuradha Mittal commented on Tuesday for the first time since Ben & Jerry's announced that it would stop selling ice cream in the West Bank while she rejected calls that the decision was anti-Semitic.
'I am proud of @benandjerrys for taking a stance to end sale of its ice cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,' Mittal tweeted.
'This action is not anti-Semitic. I am not anti-Semitic. The vile hate that has been thrown at me does not intimidate me. Pls work for peace – not hatred!'
Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli soldiers on Wednesday
Palestinian demonstrators demand on Wednesday that the Israeli army hands over the body of man who was shot dead by Israeli forces on Tuesday night, in the village of Beita, in the occupied West Bank
Palestinian protesters watch Israeli soldiers during a protest over the killing of a Palestinian man by Israeli soldiers in Beita in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday
A damaged car is seen after Israeli forces opened fire to it and wounded an 11-year-old child in Hebron, West Bank on Wednesday
The Israeli government has previously convinced Ben & Jerry's not to take such a stance but pressure from pro-Palestinian activists has increased amid recent fighting in Gaza, as noted by Axios.
Israel has even desperately tried to push Unilever to prevent the company from deciding to stop selling ice cream - but Ben & Jerry's parent company said it had the right under its corporate responsibility policies.
Unilever says it remains 'fully committed' to its businesses in Israel and will find a way to continue to produce Ben & Jerry's inside the country while excluding settlements.
The company has not said how it plans to do this - and despite wide international opposition to the settlements, Israel does not differentiate between them and the rest of its territory.
Three-quarters of the members of the Israeli parliament on Wednesday called on Ben & Jerry's to reverse its decision to stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem.
In a letter to the Vermont-based ice cream maker, the lawmakers said they were 'standing together against the shameful actions' of the company.
They called the decision 'immoral and regrettable,' claimed it would hurt hundreds of Jewish and Arab workers and violated an Israeli law banning boycotts of the settlements.
The letter was signed by 90 of the Knesset's 120 members spanning almost the entire political spectrum. Arab parties and some dovish lawmakers refused to sign.
Some 700,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem and the West Bank - areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians, with wide international backing, claim both areas as parts of a future independent state.
Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and says it is part of its capital, but the annexation is not internationally recognized. It says the West Bank is disputed territory whose fate should be resolved in peace talks.
The international community overwhelmingly considers both areas occupied territory.
The government has urged 35 U.S. states with anti-boycott laws to punish Unilever. Several states, including Texas and Florida, have begun to look into the matter but none have taken action yet.
Gilad Erdan, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that it was partly responsible for Ben and Jerry's decision.
'When this council fails to take strong action against the world´s worst human rights violators like Iran and Syria and instead singles out the world´s only Jewish state, it is no wonder that companies like Ben and Jerry's and Unilever allow themselves to single out Israel for boycott,' he said.
'These companies have no moral reservations about operating in countries which are truly among the world´s worst violators of human rights, while imposing an anti-Semitic boycott on the Jewish state.'
He added: 'In light of these double standards, the claims of U.N. bodies and companies like Ben and Jerry's to be motivated by high ideals and objective standards, melt to nothing, like ice cream in the summer sun.'
In New York City, the owner of a Ben & Jerry's shop on the Upper West Side was so angry over the decision he vowed to donate 10 percent of his proceeds to help Israel, the New York Post reported.
Joel Gasman claims the decision has caused sales at the West 104th Street and Broadway store to drop.
'We couldn't sit back and watch without speaking up,' Gasman told the outlet. 'It has definitely hurt our bottom line and our overall store value. We did fear boycotts from customers. We still do.'
He added that online trolls have started giving his franchise bad reviews online simply because of the company's corporate stance.
In the town of North Hempstead on Long Island, local officials ripped Ben & Jerry's decision as 'dangerous and anti-Israel,' The Island Now reported.
In 2017, the town unanimously passed local laws preventing it from working with companies participating in the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement.
'North Hempstead's Anti-BDS legislation ensures that taxpayer money is never used to do business with or support any company that engages in a boycott of Israel,' said North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth.
'North Hempstead is a community of unity and inclusion. We remain committed in the fight against intolerance and we are unwavering in our condemnation of this BDS movement.'
Tokyo 2020: 12-year-old Syrian, Hend Zaza, the youngest Olympic athlete
She won the right to participate in the Olympics, in table-tennis, by winning the qualifiers for West Asia in Jordan.
Sport as a means to overcome the traumas of war.
Today she is ranked 155th in the international rankings in her discipline.
Priest in Damascus: "A way to draw attention to Syria and the suffering of its people".
Damascus (AsiaNews) - The Olympics have always been an international stage for the great (and small) personal feats of athletes who take part because of their sporting merits or because of the obstacles they had to overcome in order to compete, under the motto coined for the Games "its not about winning but taking part".
For Tokyo 2020, scheduled from today to 8 August, one of the most complicated in history due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the top step of the podium in this special ranking goes to the youngest athlete in the competition, 12-year-old Syrian Hend Zaza, originally from Hama and competing in table-tennis.
Amer Kassar, a priest at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Damascus, told AsiaNews: "Although we do not know the athlete personally, as Syrians we are are following the participation of our athletes in the Games with great interest. This is also a way of drawing attention to Syria and the suffering of the Syrian people".
A Catholic from the capital speaks of a "miracle", because considering the "dramatic" conditions in Syria today, it is "really such a miracle that Zaza has managed to train and compete without emigrating". "She is truly a hero for reaching the Olympics," he adds, and these stories "serve to give hope to the whole nation."
The girl started playing when she was just five years old, following the example of an older brother. She earned the right to participate in the Olympics by winning the qualifying round for West Asian countries in February 2020 in Jordan, at the age of 11. In the final match, she defeated Lebanese rival Mariana Sahakian, who is almost four times her age. Zaza also won the Syrian national title in all four categories in which she can compete, including the senior category reserved for top-ranked athletes.
Ranked 155th in the ITTF World Rankings (the international table-tennis federation), the young sportswoman was born in Hama in 2009 and took up the sport in 2014 to distract herself from the tragedy of the conflict that had engulfed the country. Sport, she says, has always played "a fundamental role in my life" and to overcome "trauma and difficulties" caused by the decade-long civil war, with over 400,000 victims and millions of displaced people.
The Olympic table tennis tournament starts on 25 July at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium: it is the first major event on the international stage for this young athlete. In 2016, the International Federation had selected her for the "Hopes" programme, with which it intends to launch future champions in the sport, sensing her great potential while she was participating in the West Asia Hopes Week and Challenge, held in Qatar.
Her coach says Zaza has only been able to play two or three level matches each year due to restrictions imposed by the conflict. That is why, for many sports and non-sports commentators, her participation in the Tokyo Games is an extraordinary achievement in itself. Zaza is also the first to qualify for the Games by following a conventional route that involves playing - and winning - matches against rivals from other nations in the region. Before her, Heba Allejji, who was invited by the Tripartite Commission to the last Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, had won the right to participate in the Olympics.
CAPITALIST ECONOMY VS PEASANT ECONOMY South Korea's carbon emissions rising faster than North's, researchers say
PAY NORTH KOREA TO PLANT MORE TREES
Forests and other vegetation may not be absorbing carbon dioxide quickly enough in South Korea, leading to a rise in emissions, according to Seoul National University researchers. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
July 28 (UPI) -- South Korea's carbon emissions are rising faster than the North's and fossil fuels are to blame, the South's scientists say.
Sujong Jeong, of Seoul National University, and Jeongmin Yun, of the university's Environmental Planning Institute, said in peer-reviewed article in the journal Carbon Balance and Management that the South's greenhouse gas emissions were greater because of the use of carbon-based fuels in manufacturing, iNews24 reported Wednesday.
Jeong and Yun said they developed the Goddard Earth Observing System-Chemistry model, or GEOS-Chem, the first-ever model to identify the cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide in North and South Korea, according to South Korean news service News 1.
The researchers' simulation examined a number of factors that could contribute to carbon emissions, including the impact of land-use change, as well as ground, shipping and aviation transport. The research also analyzed the ability of forests and other vegetation to absorb emissions.
Natural "terrestrial sinks," including forests and oceans, can partly absorb greenhouse gases from human activity. Data from 2000 to 2016 indicate the South's emission rose 4% faster than the North's, and 13% faster than the global average, the scientists said.
While the South's activities are giving rise to emissions, atmospheric carbon dioxide also rises faster than other regions because of the Korean Peninsula's proximity to China, the paper said. China is the world's largest carbon emitter.
North Korea's carbon emissions are also comparably lower than the South's because of coal exports, according to the research.
"North Korea exported a significant amount of coal to China to revive its economy," researchers said.
"Because coal exports increased without the restoration of coal mine damage caused by the Great Flood in the 1990s, the domestic coal consumption and resulting [carbon dioxide] emissions decreased."
South Korea has pledged carbon neutrality by 2050.
Sukhoi Su-30SME multirole fighter jets and military training aircraft delivered . After China, Russia is the main supplier of weapons to Naypyidaw. Like the Chinese, the Russians support Min Aung Hlaing's coup junta. Burma's military leadership relies on the Kremlin to balance Beijing's influence.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - In recent days Russia has delivered a consignment of Sukhoi Su-30SME multi-role fighter jets and military training aircraft to Myanmar, contracted by the regime a few months ago. Head of the Federal Service for Military Cooperation, Dmitry Šugaev confirmed the sale to Interfax over the weekend.
Šugaev says "the supply of these technologies will significantly strengthen the capabilities of Myanmar's military aviation." During the Maks-2021 Air Show, in the presence of Vladimir Putin, he explained that "Naypyidaw remains one of Russia's key partners in Southeast Asia."
Myanmar has been using Russian Mig-29 and Jak-130 aircrafts for a long time; the two countries have a close cooperation in the military field, as confirmed by the head of the Russian war trade agency Rosoboronexport, Aleksandr Mikheev.
Sipri reports that between 2011 and 2020 Moscow sold weapons to Naypyidaw for 649 million euros. With sales of €1.2 billion, China is the leading supplier of armaments to Myanmar.
Russia is actively supporting the Myanmar Armed Forces, which seized power on February 1 in a military coup led by General Min Aung Hlaing. The Russians (like the Chinese) have refused to condemn the action, arguing that the Tatmadaw (the Burmese army) is the only force capable of guaranteeing unity and peace in the multi-ethnic country. The USA, the European Union and Great Britain have imposed sanctions against those responsible for the coup.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin visited Naypyidaw in March. He conducted negotiations with local military leaders and also attended the parade in honor of the 76th anniversary of the establishment of the Burmese Armed Forces. Defense Minister Sergei Šojgu, one of President Putin's closest men, had visited Myanmar in January, signing several agreements even then for the delivery of Pantsir-C1 short-range anti-aircraft missile systems, Orlan-10E reconnaissance drones and radio-location stations.
A Myanmar military delegation traveled to Russia last month to learn about Pantsir production techniques, accompanied by Aung Hlaing himself and Air Force Chief Maung Maung Kiaw.
Military cooperation with Russia serves Myanmar to balance (at least in part) the preponderant influence of China on the political life of the country, of which it is the largest trading partner and the main investor. Myanmar is an integral part of the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi Jinping's mega-infrastructure project to make Beijing the pivot of world trade.
On his trip to Russia, Aung Hlaing had complained about "foreign state" interference in supporting rebel ethnic minorities on Myanmar's northern border," which faces China's Yunnan province. Balancing Chinese and Russian influence is a political game Myanmar has been trying to play since the 1990s.
Palestinian boy shot by Israeli forces dies in hospital
Israeli soldiers deployed to a Palestinian protest demanding that the Israeli army hands over the body of man who was shot dead by Israeli forces the previous night, in the village of Beita, in the occupied West Bank, July 28, 2021. (AFP Photo)
A Palestinian boy shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has died from his wounds Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Mohamad al-Alami, 12, died in the town of Beit Omar, to the northwest of the flashpoint city of Hebron, after he was shot in the chest while traveling in a car with his father, the ministry said in a statement.
He is the second young Palestinian to die of wounds sustained by Israeli fire in days.
In a statement, the Israeli army said soldiers had seen men get out of a vehicle near a military checkpoint and begin digging in the ground.
"Troops approached the scene with caution and upon examination found two bags, one of which contained the body of a newborn infant," it added, according to remarks carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
When a vehicle approached the same spot a little while later, the army "concluded that it was the same vehicle as before" and attempted to stop it by shouting and firing shots into the air. When the vehicle did not stop, a soldier fired at its wheels.
"We are looking into the claim that a Palestinian minor was killed as a result of the gunfire," the army said. "The incident is being reviewed by senior commanding officers. In addition, the military police has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the event."
According to Palestinian media reports, the boy was sitting in his father's car when he was fatally injured. Palestinian media reported that local residents had buried a newborn in a cemetery near Hebron. After the soldiers had dug it up, they were told by the authorities to come back and rebury the child, as Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported. On Saturday, a 17-year-old Palestinian died from wounds he received the day before. Mohammed Munir al-Tamimi, who suffered gunshot wounds, died in hospital, the Palestinian health ministry said, a day after violence in the Palestinian village of Beita. Hundreds of Palestinians had gathered on Friday afternoon in Beita, a hot spot in recent months, to protest against the nearby wildcat Jewish settlement outpost of Eviatar. The clashes pitted Palestinians against Israeli soldiers and resulted in 320 Palestinians being wounded, according to the Red Crescent. And late Tuesday, a 41-year-old Palestinian was shot dead near Beita, the Palestinian health ministry said.
All Jewish settlements in the West Bank are regarded as illegal by most of the international community.
West Bank, 12-year-old Palestinian boy killed by an Israeli soldier Mohamad al-Alam passed away last night in the hospital from his serious injuries. The soldier struck him in the chest with a bullet while the boy was in a car with his father. According to the Israeli army, the car was involved in suspicious activity and did not stop for a check. More than 320 Palestinians injured in clashes in recent days.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews/Agencies) - A 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was seriously wounded when shot by Israeli soldiers, during a patrol carried out in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank died yesterday evening.
His death was confirmed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, according to which the victim, Mohamad al-Alami, was killed in the town of Beit Omar, northwest of Hebron.
The statement released by the ministry explains that the boy was shot in the chest while he was with his father inside the family car. Israeli military sources confirm the incident, stressing that one of the soldiers shot at the wheels of the car after detecting that the car was involved in previous "suspicious activities."
An official army memo states, ""The troops attempted to stop the vehicle using standard procedures including shouting and firing warning shots into the air. After the vehicle did not stop, one of the soldiers fired toward the vehicle's wheels in order to stop it."
Palestinians present at the time of the incident have a different version and claim the soldier aimed at the boy who later died in a hospital in the southern West Bank from his serious injuries.
Yesterday's is just the latest in a series of bloody events in the area in recent days. On the evening of July 27, a 41-year-old Palestinian was killed by an Israeli bullet in a West Bank town, the scene of clashes between protesters and security forces in recent weeks. On July 24, a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager, wounded the previous day during a heated confrontation with Israeli soldiers, died in the hospital where he had been admitted.
At the origin of the clashes, the demonstrations promoted by Palestinians against the Israeli occupation and the presence of soldiers in the West Bank. In the violence between the two sides there are at least 320 injured Palestinian demonstrators, most of them hit by tear gas, as reported by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The settlements are communities inhabited by Israeli civilians and military personnel and built in the territories conquered after the Six-Day War of June 1967, in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip.
In 1982 Israel withdrew from the settlements in Sinai after signing the peace agreement (1979) with Egypt and in 2005 former Prime Minister Sharon ordered the dismantling of 17 colonies in the Gaza Strip. At the moment the colonies - illegal according to international law - are located in East Jerusalem, West Bank and Golan Heights and within them live about 470 thousand people.
Firm that owns Israel's spyware company NSO to be liquidated
BY FRENCH PRESS AGENCY -
AFP PARIS
MID-EAST JUL 28, 2021 A woman uses her phone in front of the building housing the Israeli company NSO Group, in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug. 28, 2016. (AFP Photo)
Aprivate equity company that owns the NSO Group, the Israeli firm at the center of the Pegasus spyware scandal, is being liquidated, a source shared.
London-based Novalpina Capital, which bought the NSO Group in 2019, is being dissolved after a dispute between its co-founders, the source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday.
Its liquidation leaves the future ownership of NSO unclear, just as the company is grappling with the fallout of a vast electronic espionage scandal.
Novalpina also owns the Estonian casino group Olympic Entertainment and French pharmaceutical company X.O.
The Financial Times reported that Novalpina's investors "have until Aug. 6 to decide whether to liquidate the fund with a fire sale of its assets, or appoint a third party to take control of it."
French business daily Les Echos reported that Novalpina was being liquidated to put an end to an "internal war" between its founders.
But "the espionage scandal may have been the straw that broke the camel's back," it added.
NSO has denied any wrongdoing, labeling the allegations "false."
It insists its software is intended for use only in fighting terrorism and other crimes.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was due to leave Wednesday for Paris, where he is set to discuss the scandal with his French counterpart Florence Parly.
Israeli Government Visits NSO Group Amidst Spyware Claims
Meeting Comes After World Leaders Appear on Alleged 'Pegasus' Targeting ListJeremy Kirk (jeremy_kirk) • July 29, 2021
The Israeli government paid a visit on Wednesday to NSO Group, the controversial company whose spyware has been alleged to have been covertly installed on the mobile devices of journalists and activists.
Officials from Israel's Ministry of Defense visited NSO Group, according to Calcalist.co.il. The visit was pre-arranged, the publication reported, and it did not include an audit or examination of computer systems or documents.
In a statement, NSO Group says that it can "confirm that representatives from the Israeli Ministry of Defense visited our offices. We welcome their inspection. The company is working in full transparency with the Israeli authorities."
“We are confident that this inspection will prove the facts are as declared repeatedly by the company against the false allegations made against us in the recent media attacks," NSO Group says.
The visit is a sign that the latest allegations against NSO Group are in turn causing pressure on Israel. Calls have grown stronger from around the world for the country to take a closer look into NSO Group's sales of Pegasus, a powerful type of spyware that can silently infect mobile devices (see Pegasus Spyware: World Leaders Demand Israeli Probe).
France has pressed Israel to investigate. Also, four U.S. Democratic lawmakers called for the "hacker for hire" industry to be brought under control and sanction implemented for companies that sell spyware to authoritarian states.
A recent investigation unveiled by Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories, a French based nonprofit group, allege that Pegasus is sold to governments which then turn it on dissidents, journalists and activists. NSO Group maintains the software is only used for legitimate and authorized law enforcement activities, include combating crime and terrorism (see Leak of Alleged Pegasus Target List Restokes Spyware Debate).
Controversial Leak
The findings of Amnesty and Forbidden Stories were based on a leak of a list of 50,000 phone numbers. The groups say the list represents phone numbers of people who may have been targeted by Pegasus. The source of the list has not been revealed.
Forensic investigators with Amnesty's Security Lab say 37 devices connected with numbers on the list showed signs of either being targeted or infected with Pegasus.
Those attacks appear to take place using network injection techniques or possible zero-day vulnerabilities in applications such as Apple's iMessage, Photos and Music, the research contends. The attacks using iMessage appear to be so-called "zero click" attacks, which means no interaction from the user is needed to infect a device (see Spyware Exposé Highlights Suspected Apple Zero-Day Flaws).
Although it has been alleged that NSO Group's software has been misused by its clients, what elevated the situation this time is the presence of phone numbers of high-profile leaders on the list.
The numbers include presidents such as France's Emmanuel Macron, Iraq's Barham Salih and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. There are also three current prime ministers: Pakistan's Imran Khan, Egypt's Mostafa Madbouly and Morocco's Saad-Eddine El Othmani. Seven former prime ministers are on the list and one king, Morocco's Mohammed VI.
NSO Group says the list does not come from the company and is not a targeting list. The company maintains that it complies with Israel's export regulations, which controls how cyber weapons are sold. NSO has said it has around 45 government customers that target around 100 people per year.
Boeing will try again to reach space station with Starliner capsule
By Paul Brinkmann Boeing's Starliner spacecraft rolls from its processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 17 before being towed to the launch pad. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo
ORLANDO, Fla., July 29 (UPI) -- NASA's effort to commercialize its space program and Boeing's long-standing leadership role in aerospace are due for a major test Friday with the second orbital launch attempt for the company's Starliner space capsule from Florida.
Liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the capsule is planned for 2:53 p.m. EDT from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The weather forecast for Friday, however, is 60% unfavorable for launch, according to U.S. Space Force meteorologists. The next opportunity would be Tuesday, according to Boeing.
Boeing will attempt to show that Starliner can fly astronauts safely to the International Space Station in the uncrewed test.
A streak of soot marks a Boeing Starliner capsule at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after it re-entered the atmosphere during a failed test flight in December 2019. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo
The company's previous Starliner test flight in December 2019 failed to reach the orbiting laboratory because of software problems, putting the Starliner program far behind SpaceX's Crew Dragon program.
If successful, Boeing's Starliner would provide similar astronaut ferrying service as SpaceX's Dragon capsule began in May 2020. But if Starliner fails again, NASA would be left -- at least temporarily -- with only SpaceX as a provider in a program designed to be competitive.
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is secured atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 17. Photo by Damon Tucci/Boeing | License Photo
"It's a very important flight for the Commercial Crew Program, having our second space transportation system available to carry crew to space," Steve Stich, NASA's manager for the commercial crew program, said Tuesday in a press conference. "This flight will test many of the important systems on the vehicle."
If Boeing's spacecraft reaches the space station successfully, NASA will run a series of tests and then return the capsule Aug. 5 to a parachute-assisted landing in the western United States.
Boeing ran hundreds of simulations before and after the failed 2019 test flight, said John Vollmer, the company's program manager for Starliner.
Boeing made major changes to software and software simulations after the capsule failed to pick up the correct elapsed mission time from the rocket in 2019. That resulted in a series of mistakes as the capsule's software burned fuel needlessly, Boeing and NASA previously found.
A test mannequin named Rosie the Rocketeer is suited up for the orbital test flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule planned for Friday. Photo courtesy of Boeing | License Photo
"The biggest change in software was in the communications coding," Vollmer said. Those changes included new safeguards that would ensure the capsule would seek new communications connections if such connections were lost, and to ensure "an antenna is pointed back at Earth" after the capsule separates from the rocket, he said.
NASA classified the previous test failure as a "high visibility close call," the lowest category NASA uses for serious mission problems. Boeing agreed to a lengthy checklist of fixes and checkouts before Starliner would fly again
Boeing should be worried about the test, said Marco Cáceres, space analyst for the Teal Group based in Fairfax, Va.
"It's really clear that SpaceX has become the establishment player," Cáceres said. "NASA is getting very accustomed and comfortable with SpaceX's culture, and my gut feeling is if Boeing doesn't get this totally right, they're done, in terms of providing launch services for NASA."
And yet, NASA very much wants a second option for reaching the space station, he said.
"I think NASA is rooting for Boeing and hoping it goes well and hoping they can rely on two providers," Cáceres said. "History shows that NASA loses if there's only one big company they can rely on for something. The space program thrives with competition."
NASA also could use the leverage of having two astronaut spacecraft in negotiations with Russia, he said. NASA has been purchasing seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for up to $80 million to reach the space station.
"Russia has had an ace in the hole by selling Soyuz seats to NASA, but with two providers, with Boeing, there's no chance NASA would pay one penny to Russia for launch services again," Cáceres said.
Is the truth out there?
How the Harvard-based Galileo Project will search the skies for alien technology
July 29, 2021
Can we find alien technology? That is the ambitious goal of the Galileo Project, launched this week by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb with substantial private financial backing.
The project is far from the first attempt to detect signs of civilisations beyond Earth. Loeb has been criticised in the past for his dismissive approach to previous efforts to find extraterrestrial life and his argument that an alien artefact passed through our solar system in 2017.
So why do Loeb and his collaborators think they have a chance of finding something where others have failed? There are three triggers that suggest they might. Exoplanets, ‘Oumuamua, and UFOs
First, years of painstaking observations have shown that many stars host Earth-like planets. There is a real chance these “exoplanets” might be home to alien civilisations.
Second, five years ago, an interstellar visitor, dubbed 'Oumuamua, tumbled though our solar system. It was a skinny object about 400 metres long, and we know from its speed and trajectory that it arrived from outside our solar system. It was the first time we had ever seen an interstellar object enter our neighbourhood.
Unfortunately it caught us on the hop, and we didn’t notice it until it was on its way out. So we didn’t get a chance to have a really good look at it.
Scientists were divided on the question of what 'Oumuamua might be. Many thought it was simply an interstellar shard of rock, even though we had no idea how such a shard might be produced or slung our way.
Others, including Loeb, thought there was a chance it was a spacecraft from another civilisation. Some scientists felt such claims to be far-fetched. Others pointed out that science should be open-minded and, in the absence of a good explanation, we should examine all plausible solutions.
Today, the question is still hanging. We don’t know whether 'Oumuamua was a spaceship or merely an inert lump of rock.
The third trigger for the Galileo Project came from the US military. In June, the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence announced that some military reports of UFOs, or UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) as they are now known, seem real.
Specifically, the report said some UAPs “probably do represent physical objects given that a majority of UAP were registered across multiple sensors” and there was no known explanation for them
.
An image showing an unexplained object from a video released by the US Department of Defense. US Department of Defense / AAP
In other words, they aren’t meteorological phenomena, or faulty instruments, or weather balloons, or clandestine military experiments. So what are they?
Again, the question is left hanging. The report seems to rule out known technology, and suggests “advanced technology”, but stops short of suggesting it is the work of aliens. Science to the rescue
Loeb takes the view that instead of debating whether either 'Oumuamua or UAPs provide evidence of alien intelligence, we should do what scientists are good at: get some reliable data. And, he argues, scientists are the people to do it, not politicians or military staff. As the US report says, the sensors used by the military “are not generally suited for identifying UAP”.
Few subjects divide scientists as much as the existence of aliens. On one hand, there are serious SETI (Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence) projects, such as Project Phoenix and Breakthrough Listen, that use the world’s largest telescopes to search for signals from some extraterrestrial intelligence.
At the other extreme, few scientists are persuaded by the fuzzy photos and dubious eyewitness accounts that seem to characterise many UFO reports.
The Galileo Project is very different from SETI searches or collections of UFO sightings. Instead, it will explicitly search for evidence of alien artefacts, either in space or on Earth.
But is it science?
Is this science? Loeb is convinced that it is. He argues the Galileo Project will bring scientific techniques and expertise to bear on one of the most important questions we can ask: are we alone? And the project will build purpose-designed equipment, optimised for the detection of alien artefacts.
Will it find anything? The odds are poor, as Loeb admits. In essence it’s a fishing expedition. But if there is a prima facie case for the existence of alien technology, then science has a duty to investigate it.
But suppose they do find something? Will we get to hear about it, or will it be locked up in some future Area 51?
The Galileo Project has promised all data will be made public, and all results will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Indeed, one of the reasons it will not use existing military data is because much of it is classified, which would restrict the project’s freedom to make the results public.
Or perhaps the project will find natural explanations for 'Oumuamua and UAPs. But even that will be a new scientific discovery, perhaps revealing new natural phenomena.
