USA! USA! STILL NUMBER ONE 
US reports highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the world
2021/7/28 15:35 (EDT)

A COVID-19 particle is pictured in this image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. - CDC/TNS/TNS

The U.S. has reported the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the world over the last seven days, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.S. saw 500,332 new cases (a 131% increase) the week ending July 25 compared with the previous week, the WHO said.

The world at large saw 3.8 million new cases (an 8% increase) over the same time period. More troublingly, the number of deaths related to COVID-19 (more than 69,000) represented a 21% jump.

“An average of around 540 000 cases were reported each day over the past week as compared to 490 000 cases reported daily the week before. This increasing trend is largely attributed to substantial increases in the Region of the Americas and the Western Pacific Region,” the WHO’s report reads.

Brazil, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and India rounded out the top five of countries with most new cases.

“If these trends continue, it is expected that the cumulative number of cases reported globally could exceed 200 million in the next two weeks,” the WHO said.

The increase in cases is largely being fueled by the spreading delta variant as well as a slowdown in the U.S.’s vaccine drive. According to the CDC, only 49.2% of the country is fully vaccinated, well short of the benchmark needed for herd immunity.

REVEALED: NRA'S Wayne LaPierre and his wife turned elephant they killed into trash can and handbags

Travis Gettys
July 29, 2021

NRA's Wayne LaPierre. (Screengrab.)

New details have emerged about an elephant hunt that Wayne LaPierre and his wife took part in that was funded by the embattled NRA he leads.

Newly revealed emails show the couple arranged to have an elephant they killed on a 2013 hunt shipped from Botswana and have its body butchered and turned into trophies, and they tried to keep the shipment and related taxidermy work secret despite the involvement of multiple individuals and companies in various countries, according to records obtained by The Trace and published in partnership with The New Yorker.

"Taxidermy work orders containing the LaPierres' names called for the elephants' four front feet to be turned into 'stools,' an 'umbrella stand,' and a 'trash can,'" wrote The Trace's Mike Spies, who obtained the records. "At their request, tusks were mounted, skulls were preserved, and the hyena became a rug."

The couple felt secrecy was necessary, according to the emails, after hunting show host Tony Makris sparked public furor after killing an elephant on his NRA-sponsored "Under Wild Skies," which also filmed the LaPierre's hunt for an episode that never aired.

"The [taxidermy arrangement] represents a rare instance in which the gun group's embattled chief executive is captured, on paper, unambiguously violating NRA rules," Spies wrote. "The emails show that Susan directed the process while Makris's company, Under Wild Skies Inc., which received millions of dollars from the NRA, picked up the tab."

The records appear to confirm allegations by New York attorney general Letitia James, who has regulatory authority over the NRA and is currently seeking its dissolution, in a complaint filed last August that describes the trophy fees and taxidermy work as violations of the nonprofit's own rules, which cap gifts from contractors at $250.

The shipping and taxidermy cost thousands of dollars and benefitted the LaPierres only, and not the NRA.

"Susan noted that the couple also expected to receive, along with the elephant trophies, an assortment of skulls and skins from warthogs, impalas, a zebra, and a hyena," Spies reported. "Once the animal parts arrived in the states, the taxidermist would turn them into decorations for the couple's home in Virginia, and prepare the elephant skins so they could be used to make personal accessories, such as handbags.

Dresses, skorts, hijabs: Women shuttlers in Tokyo dress as they please

BY REUTERS TOKYO SPORTS
JUL 28, 2021

Iran's Soraya Aghaeihajiagha in action against China's He Bingjiao in Tokyo 2020 Olympics badminton women's singles match, Tokyo, Japan, July 28, 2021.

Female athletes have fought long and hard for the right to choose what they wear when they compete at the Olympics, and at the Tokyo Games more and more athletes and fans are speaking out and taking action.

Of the more than 30 women who played badminton on Wednesday, including India's PV Sindhu and Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying, about two-thirds wore shorts, while others were clad in skorts, dresses and skirts, and one wore a hijab.

"I'm lucky that we can wear whatever we want," said Sindhu, the Rio Olympics women's singles silver medalist, who wore one of her blue dresses when she defeated Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi 21-9, 21-16.

Iran's Soraya Aghaei Hajiagha, along with her coach, wore a dress, leggings and a hijab in her match with China's He Bing Jiao. Skirts and skorts – loose-fitting shorts that look like skirts from the front – were also a popular choice among players including Belgium's Lianne Tan and Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.

On Sunday, the German women's gymnastics team wore full-body suits in qualifications, hoping to promote freedom of choice and encourage women to wear what makes them feel comfortable.

But the Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined 1,500 euros last week for wearing shorts rather than bikini bottoms and jeopardizing "the ideal presentation of the sport," according to the European Handball Federation and the International Handball Federation.

Rules state that the bikini bottoms must be a maximum width of 10 centimeters and have a "close fit and cut on an upward angle."




About a decade ago, ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, some officials at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) drew fire because of a similar rule saying women had to wear skirts to make the sport more "feminine" and "attractive" to fans and sponsors. That rule was scrapped prior to the Games, however.

"In hindsight, we went around the wrong way, but we've learned from that and so have our manufacturers," said Nora Perry, two-time world champion and a council member of the BWF, whose suppliers include Adidas and Yonex.

"Yonex have embraced it because there are a lot of Koreans and Chinese girls who don't want to wear skirts."

Perry, who has over 75 international titles in individual competitions, said when she played in the 80s, the fashion was to wear skirts and dresses with "frilly things underneath."

"It was nice that the women's voices were heard on that," British player Kirsty Gilmour said, "I personally don't feel comfortable in a skirt so I like the choice of short shorts, long shorts; Tai Tzu Ying likes her tops sleeveless."

"We're lucky we don't feel pressure on how we should look.

Hearing takes a bizarre turn as Republican demands to know if Biden nominee believes in God

Sarah K. Burris
July 29, 2021

Sen. John Kennedy (Twitter)  

OXFORD TRAINED LAWYER, 

DOES AW SHUCKS JUST AN OLD 

SOUTHERN COUNTRY LAWYER ROUTINE


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:

 

Robinhood IPO is 'effectively 

selling investors on exploiting

other investors,' 

New Constructs CEO argues

Grace O'Donnell

·Assistant Editor

Wed, July 28, 2021

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

By ADAM SCHRADER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS

RIGHT WING PRO ZIONIST ARTICLE

PUBLISHED: 28 July 2021

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".

For too long the country has been relegated to the margins and forgotten by the international community, as denounced in the past by the apostolic nuncio in Damascus himself. Kassar added, "Sport is first of all an important human activity, and secondly, it brings young people closer together.

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.

RELATED North Korea marked Korean War armistice with greater fanfare, report says

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.

RELATED  North, South Korea hotline reopening goes unreported in North Korea

"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.

PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

Moscow sells warplanes to Burmese generals 

MYNAMAR BY ANY OTHER NAME

by Vladimir Rozanskij

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

BY AGENCIES ISTANBUL 

MID-EAST
JUL 29, 2021

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.