Universal health care bill fails to pass in California

 Supporters of single-payer health care march to the Capitol, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. On Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, California Democrats face a deadline to advance a bill that would create a government-funded universal health care system. The proposal has the support of some Democratic leaders and powerful labor union, but it faces strong opposition from business groups who say it would cost too much. 

(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)


ADAM BEAM
Sun, January 30, 2022, 10:03 PM·4 min read

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A bill that would have created the nation's only government-funded universal health care system died in the California Assembly on Monday as Democrats could not gather enough support to bring it for a vote ahead of a legislative deadline.

The bill had to pass by midnight on Monday to have a chance at becoming law this year. Democrats needed 41 votes for that to happen, a threshold that did not seem impossible given that they control 56 of the 80 seats in the state Assembly and universal health care has long been a priority for the party.

But intense lobbying from business groups put pressure on more moderate Democrats, who face tough reelection campaigns this year in newly-redrawn districts. Plus, Democrats were missing four lawmakers from their caucus — including three of their more liberal members — who had resigned recently to take other jobs.

“Especially with four democratic vacancies in the Assembly, the votes were not there today, but we will not give up,” Assemblymember Ash Kalra, a Democrat from San Jose and the bill's author, said in a news release.

Kalra's decision not to bring the bill up for a vote incensed his allies in the California Nurses Association, who have been pushing for this bill for years — including campaigning heavily for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's 2018 election. While Kalra had authored the bill and gotten it out of two legislative committees to reach the Assembly floor, the Nurses Association said in a statement they were “outraged that Kalra chose to just give up on patients across the state.”

Progressives have dreamed about a universal health care system in the U.S. for decades. Health care is so expensive, they say, in part because the nation's health care system is paid for by multiple parties, including patients, insurance companies, employers and the government. Instead, they say the U.S. health care system should have a single payer — the government — that would keep prices under control and make health care available to all.

But while other nations have adopted such systems, it’s been impossible to establish in the United States. Vermont enacted the nation’s first such system in 2011, but later abandoned it because it would have cost too much.

In California, voters overwhelmingly rejected a universal health care system in a 1994 ballot initiative. Former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger twice vetoed similar legislation in the 2000s. And a 2017 proposal stalled in the state Assembly.

The biggest hurdle is cost. A study of a 2017 proposal for universal health care in California estimated it would cost $331 billion, which is about $356 billion today when adjusted for inflation. Meanwhile, California is expected to account for about $517 billion in health care spending this year, with the largest chunk coming from employers and households, according to an analysis by a commission established by Gov. Gavin Newsom to study universal health care.

For comparison, California's entire state operating budget — which pays for things like schools, courts, roads and bridges and other important services — is about $262 billion this year.

To pay for the plan, Democrats had introduced a separate bill that would impose hefty new income taxes on businesses and individuals, which fueled much of the opposition to the plan.

“Today's vote in the Assembly was a vote to protect their constituents from higher taxes and chaos in our health care system,” said Ned Wigglesworth, spokesperson for Protect California Health Care, a coalition of health care providers opposed to the bill.

Supporters say consumers are already paying exorbitant amounts for health care, saying a single-payer system would save money by eliminating deductibles, copays and expensive monthly insurance premiums.

Both bills are now likely dead for the year. But Kalra appeared to indicate he would try again next year, saying “this is only a pause for the single-payer movement.”

He'll have to navigate a new Legislature next year following the midterm elections that will see lots of turnover in the state Assembly because of term limits. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Democrat from the Los Angeles area who will be termed out in 2024, said he was “deeply disappointed” Kalra did not call the bill for a vote on Monday.

“I support single-payer and fully intended to vote yes on this bill,” Rendon said. “With time, we will have better and more successful legislation to bring us closer to this goal. I expect more and more of my colleagues to sign on, so we can make California a health care justice leader.”

Republicans, meanwhile, seemed to welcome Democrats' persistence.

“The fact that a proposal for a government takeover of our state's entire health care system even made it this far shows just how out of touch the Democratic party is from the needs of everyday Californians,” Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron said.

A NATION COVERING ITS EARS

U.S. COVID hospitalizations would be halved with European vaccination rates, analysis finds


Peter Weber, Senior editor
Mon, January 31, 2022, 

The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus pushed U.S. hospitalizations to a pandemic peak of about 161,000 cases a day in mid-January, but that number would be much lower if the U.S. had the same vaccination rate as many European countries — 91,000 hospitalizations with Denmark's numbers, 100,000 with Britain's, and 109,000 with Portugal's vaccination rates, according to a Financial Times analysis unveiled Monday.

"Across the seven months since July, spanning the Delta and Omicron waves, U.S. daily patient numbers would have averaged 39,000 — rather than the 80,000 recorded — had its vaccination coverage tracked that of Portugal," Oliver Barnes, John Burn-Murdoch, and Jamie Smyth report in the Financial Times.

The U.S. got off to a faster start with vaccinations than European nations, but then the U.S. rates stalled and Europe pulled ahead. The U.S. has fallen even farther behind when it comes to booster shots, a key tool against the Omicron variant. President Biden "is right when he says we're facing a pandemic of the unvaccinated — but it's also now becoming a pandemic of the unboosted," said Peter Hotez at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine. He added that opposition to vaccination is the "leading killer" of middle-aged Americans and is "perpetuating the pandemic emergency state unnecessarily."

The Financial Times graphed the case fatality rate (CFR) in the U.S. versus more widely vaccinated European nations.

New data published Friday by France's directorate of research highlighted the importance of booster shots, finding that two doses of vaccine make an infected 70-year-old less likely to end up in the ICU than an unvaccinated 40-year-old, and that risk drops further after a booster shot.

"The truth is that an 80-year-old that's vaccinated and boosted and gets COVID most of the time has nothing more than a cold," Phillip Coule, professor of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, tells the Financial Times, while "a healthy 50-year-old who's a little bit overweight, has problems with blood pressure or diabetes, and is not vaccinated at all ends up in the ICU." Read more, including the newspaper's methodology, at the Financial Times.

El Salvador angrily rejects IMF call to drop Bitcoin use


"We accept Bitcoin" is announced at a barber shop in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, Sept. 4, 2021. The IMF urged the government of El Salvador on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 to eliminate Bitcoin as legal tender. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File) 

Mon, January 31, 2022

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The government of El Salvador on Monday rejected a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund to drop Bitcoin as legal tender in the Central American country.

Treasury Minister Alejandro Zelaya angrily said that “no international organization is going to make us do anything, anything at all.”

Zelaya told a local television station that Bitcoin is an issue of "sovereignty.”

“Countries are sovereign nations and they take sovereign decisions about public policy,” he said.

The IMF recommended last week that El Salvador dissolve the $150 million trust fund it created when it made the cryptocurrency legal tender and return any of those unused funds to its treasury.

The agency cited concerns about the volatility of Bitcoin prices, and the possibility of criminals using the cryptocurrency. After nearly doubling in value late last year, Bitcoin has plunged in value.

Zelaya said El Salvador has complied with all financial transaction and money laundering rules.

The trust fund was intended to allow the automatic conversion of Bitcoin to U.S. dollars — El Salvador’s other currency — to encourage people wary of adopting the highly volatile digital currency.

The IMF also recommended eliminating the offer of $30 as an incentive for people to start using the digital wallet “Chivo” and increasing regulation of the digital wallet to protect consumers. It suggested there could be benefits to the use of Chivo, but only using dollars, not Bitcoin.

“In the near-term the actual costs of implementing Chivo and operationalizing the Bitcoin law exceed potential benefits,” the report said.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele had been dismissive of the IMF’s recommendation’s concerning Bitcoin.

Government officials told the IMF that the launch of “Chivo” had significantly increased financial inclusion, drawing millions of people who previously lacked bank accounts into the financial system. They also spoke of the parallel tourism promotion targeting Bitcoin enthusiasts.

The government did not see a need to scale back the scope of its Bitcoin law, but agreed regulation could be strengthened, according to a report.

Bukele led the push to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly made the country the first to do so in June and the Bitcoin law went into effect in September.

El Salvador and the IMF have been negotiating $1.3 billion in lending for months.

A woman claimed she was virtually groped by a gang of male avatars in Meta's metaverse, report says

THERE IS A METAVERSE FOR THAT

Joshua Zitser
Sun, January 30, 2022

Stock image of a woman using a virtual reality headset.

A woman claimed that a gang of male avatars virtually groped her in Meta's metaverse, The Mail on Sunday reported.

The 43-year-old said she was also verbally harassed by the avatars in Meta's Horizon Venues.

Last month, another woman said she was virtually groped while working as a beta tester for Meta's Horizon Worlds.

A 43-year-old British woman claims she was virtually groped by a gang of male avatars in Meta's metaverse earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday first reported.

Nina Jane Patel, who works as the vice president of research for a rival metaverse, said in a Medium post that she was "verbally and sexually harassed" by three or four male avatars in Meta's Horizon Venues.

The London-based mother said that within a minute of joining the virtual world's lobby earlier this month, male avatars began harassing her.

According to Patel's Medium post, the avatars touched her character's body inappropriately, made sexual comments, and took screenshots for several minutes.

After trying to flee the virtual world, Patel told The Mail on Sunday that she had to tear off her virtual reality (VR) headset to bring an end to the ordeal. She told the paper that she has been suffering from anxiety ever since.

"We're sorry to hear this happened," a Meta spokesperson told Insider by email. "We want everyone in Horizon Venues to have a positive experience, and easily find the safety tools that can help in a situation like this - and help us investigate and take action."

The spokesperson noted that Patel did not use the platform's reporting tools, allowing users to block, mute, and report anyone near them. Patel told Insider that she wasn't able to do so quickly enough.

"Horizon Venues should be safe, and we are committed to building it that way," the Meta statement continued. "We will continue to make improvements as we learn more about how people interact in these spaces, especially when it comes to helping people report things easily and reliably."

Horizon Venues is a digital experience, which Meta is still developing, that allows people to use a virtual reality headset to create avatars that can watch online events together.

Last month, Insider's Stephen Jones reported that another woman said a stranger also groped her on one of Meta's other digital platforms — Horizon Worlds. A Meta internal investigation concluded that the victim hadn't enabled safety features.

US says allied forces in Syria have retaken prison after ISIS attack

Sun, January 30, 2022


The United States said on Sunday that allied forces in Syria have successfully retaken a prison following an attack by ISIS that left dozens dead.

In a statement, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were able to "re-take full control" of Hasakah prison, ending the prison break attempt from ISIS.

"Thanks to the bravery and determination of the SDF, many of whom paid the ultimate sacrifice, ISIS failed in its efforts to conduct a large-scale prison break to reconstitute its ranks," Sullivan said in a statement.

U.S. officials condemned the attempted prison break on Tuesday, extending their condolences to guards who died in the attack.

More than 100 militants attacked the prison in an effort to free detained ISIS members, prompting a firefight with U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters that left dozens dead, according to The Associated Press.

Reports of the death toll ranged from six to 23 Kurdish fighters and 28 to 39 ISIS militants, according to the AP.

The forces' commander, Mazloum Abadi, tweeted that all fugitives had been arrested.

The U.S. provided airstrikes to support the forces as they fought to retake the prison, according to the Pentagon.

Sullivan added Sunday that ISIS's violent prison break attempt showed why the terrorist organization must be contained, saying nations "must work together to address the thousands of ISIS detainees in inadequate detention facilities."

"ISIS remains a global threat that requires a global solution. The United States remains committed to working with our partners in Iraq and northeast Syria, and the Defeat-ISIS Coalition, to counter the ISIS threat to our homelands," Sullivan concluded in his statement.

WOLVES ARE ENDANGERED
With wolves in Colorado, here's everything you need to know: It's complicated

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Mon, January 31, 2022

The most polarizing predator of the West is back in Colorado, and recent kills by wolves have stoked the embers of emotions on the issue.

For the first time in eight decades, the state has a wolfpack whose six pups were born in Colorado.

That pack over the past month has killed three cows and a working cattle dog north of Walden in Jackson County, with the state's voter-approved reintroduction of wolves still a year away.


Emotions have heightened while ranchers, wolf advocates and state wildlife officials scramble on how to quell the killing. That anxiety has created a swell of misinformation and misconceptions on both sides of the issue, quieting the science of wolves' behaviors and impacts.

With that backdrop, here are answers to 10 frequently asked questions regarding wolves compiled from wolf experts, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Colorado State University's Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence.

Helping hand: Neighbors, officials assist Colorado rancher with wolf hazing fencing
Where did the wolves in Colorado come from? Were they reintroduced?

The wolfpack was not reintroduced; the parents of the pack naturally migrated into the state from Wyoming over the past several years.

The pack consists of two adults and six young, which were born last spring. The female had a tracking collar on her from Wyoming, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife captured the male and attached a tracking collar.
Why are we reintroducing wolves if they are already in Colorado?

Wolves were eradicated in Colorado by the 1940s largely through shooting, trapping and poisoning.

There have been infrequent sightings of wolves in the state since then and no breeding packs in the state until last year, when the pair was discovered right around the time the measure to reintroduce wolves was working its way onto the ballot.

Some groups wanted to speed up the process to restore wolves to a sustainable level on the Colorado landscape, like what had been done in Wyoming and Idaho in 1995 when wolves were reintroduced there.

Supporters received enough signatures to get a wolf reintroduction measure on the 2020 ballot. Voters narrowly passed Proposition 114: 50.91% for and 49.09% against.

The measure requires the Colorado Parks and Wildlife to complete a plan that includes reintroducing wolves west of the Continental Divide no later than the end of 2023. It also mandates that landowners be compensated for livestock losses due to wolves.

Do wolves kill a lot of livestock?

Wolf depredation is a small economic cost to the livestock industry overall, but the impacts to individual ranchers can be substantial.

There are many ways to break down the data, depending on which numbers you use, but overall, an accurate percentage of loss of livestock to wolves is somewhere in the single digits.

Colorado controversy: Experts say wolf depredation on cattle needs urgent attention
Why do wolves kill cattle and sheep instead of elk and deer?

The main prey base of wolves are elk, deer and moose, but wolves are opportunistic predators, meaning anything is on the menu if the amount of energy to kill it is rewarding.

Wolves are known to live among cattle and sheep and cause no harm. Other wolfpacks have found killing livestock is easier than killing wildlife. Experts agree that this learned behavior is difficult to break and can require killing (where legal) or removing all or part of the pack to address the issue.

In Colorado, where killing wolves is illegal except to protect human life and removal is considered a low-level option, various methods of nonlethal hazing of wolves are advocated. The effectiveness of these methods varies but usually lasts several weeks to several months before wolves move on or are no longer afraid of the devices.

Will wolves wipe out our deer and elk herds?

Like in the livestock industry, in some areas where wolves exist at a sustainable population level, wolves have impacted deer, elk and moose populations. When this happens, it can have an economic impact on small communities and outfitters that rely on business from hunting.

At a statewide level, wolves are unlikely to have a major impact on overall deer, elk and moose populations or hunting opportunities in Colorado, based on evidence from northern Rocky Mountain states.

Colorado boasts the largest elk population of any state, with a stable number estimated at 287,000. The mule deer population is estimated to be 450,000, which is about 25% below what is desired. The moose population is about 3,000 and thriving.

Why are livestock owners who lose livestock to wolves compensated?

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is required by state statue to compensate ranchers and farmers for depredation by predators, such as coyotes, black bears, mountain lions and now wolves. It also compensates landowners for such things as hay eaten by elk and moose tearing down fences.

The ballot initiative required compensation to landowners for confirmed wolf kills of livestock. Funding for wolf depredation comes from the state's general fund, the Species Conservation Trust Fund, the Colorado Nongame Conservation and Wildlife Restoration Cash Funds or other sources from nongame species.

How do they determine how much to pay a rancher for the loss of livestock?

That is the million-dollar question.

Generally, the rancher is paid market price.

Livestock owners point out the compensation doesn't pay them for the loss of young that could have been produced if a female is killed, reduction in birth rates and weight loss from wolves harassing their livestock. Others say that is the price of doing business where predators share the landscape.

Do wolves kill people and pets?

Wolves attacking or killing humans is extremely rare and infrequent for dogs.

Unless habituated to humans with food, wolves instinctively avoid humans.

There were no documented accounts of humans killed by wild wolves from 1900 to 2000, and few reports of wolves attacking people.

Wolves may have killed a person in Canada in 2005 and a woman jogging alone in a remote part of Alaska in 2010.

Since wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995, there have been no attacks on humans there despite annual visitation of 4.5 million people.

Wolves see dogs as competition to their territory and food supply and will aggressively attack and kill them, just as they will other wolves, coyotes, mountain lions and black bears.

Do wolves consume what they kill or do they kill for fun?

On average, wolves are successful when hunting wild game less than 20% of the time, and a wolf will consume approximately 7 to 10 pounds of meat per day.

On rare occasions, wolves eat only a portion of what is killed. And though rare, confirmed "surplus kills'' have been reported on elk and sheep. Surplus killing is when animals kill more prey than they can immediately eat and then cache or abandon the remainder.

Surplus killing by wolves is more common on domestic livestock than wild game, which have natural defenses against predators.

The leading theory of surplus killing behavior is it occurs usually in late winter, when prey are more vulnerable and easier to catch. Wolves are programmed to kill whenever possible, so they take advantage of an unusual killing opportunity.

Are wolves endangered?

Wolves are likely the most adaptable and thus among the easiest species to return to sustainable populations ever listed on the federal Endangered Species Act.

They were largely killed off in the contiguous U.S. by 1973, when they were added to the ESA. They were delisted in 2021 after their numbers exceeded 7,000, including more than 3,000 in western states.

More than 10,000 gray wolves live in Alaska.

The number of wolves in an area is largely determined by humans, which are the primary threat to their existence.

When the federal government delisted gray wolves, management within Colorado was transferred to Colorado State Parks and Wildlife. Wolves remain a designated endangered species in Colorado, and it is illegal to kill wolves in the state except to protect human life.

The penalty for illegally killing a wolf in Colorado is a fine up to $100,000, up to one year in jail and possible loss of hunting privileges for life.

Wolves in Rocky Mountain National Park?: Some believe it should be a release site
Dig deeper into Colorado wolf information

Colorado Parks and Wildlife: Visit https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/Wolves-in-Colorado-FAQ.aspx

Colorado State University: Visit https://sites.warnercnr.colostate.edu/centerforhumancarnivorecoexistence/

Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Wolves in Colorado: An FAQ on attacks, behavior, environmental impact

MBS personally called Netanyahu to intervene after Israel blocked Saudi access to a military-grade spyware program, report says

Bill Bostock
Mon, January 31, 2022

A composite image showing former Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R.)

Getty/Hasan Bratic/


Pegasus is a powerful software from NSO Group that lets governments surveil electronics.


Israel's defense ministry stopped Saudi Arabia from using Pegasus in 2020, NYT Magazine said.


So MBS personally called Netanyahu and told him he needed to intervene, the magazine said.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene after his country blocked Saudi Arabia from accessing the powerful, Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, The New York Times Magazine reported.

Pegasus, a tool made by Israel's NSO Group for governments to spy on the electronics of terrorists and criminals, has also been used by governments including Saudi Arabia to spy on activists, state critics, and foreign officials.

In October 2020, the Israeli defense ministry declined to renew NSO's export license to a Saudi security agency, citing Riyadh's past abuse of Pegasus, the magazine said.

The lack of a new license meant that NSO could not update the Pegasus software for the Saudis, and it started crashing, the report said.

This prompted Crown Prince Mohammed to call Netanyahu, the magazine reported.

After the call, Netanyahu ordered the defense ministry to solve the issue and a new export license was granted within hours, giving Saudi authorities full use of Pegasus, the report said.

NSO, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC, and the Israeli defense ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

NSO first welcomed Saudi Arabia as a client in 2017 but canceled the contract in late 2018 after the Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi was found to be murdered by Saudi state security agents.

The Post reported that the phone of Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's wife, was infected with the Pegasus software.

Despite this, Saudi Arabia's access to Pegasus was restored by NSO in early 2019, the magazine said.

In November, the US added NSO to a banned-entity list, preventing American companies from engaging with NSO.

Indian opposition says government misled parliament over spyware use


The logo of Israeli cyber firm NSO Group is seen at one of its branches in the Arava Desert, southern Israel

Mon, January 31, 2022
By Alasdair Pal

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian opposition parties said on Monday they will move parliamentary motions accusing the government of providing misleading information around the use of technology from Israeli spyware firm NSO Group.

The New York Times reported on Friday India purchased NSO's Pegasus software as part of a $2 billion weapons package in 2017.

The government has previously denied reports it used Pegasus to spy on activists, journalists and politicians.

"This government is misleading the House, the Supreme Court, the people... as opposition, it's our responsibility to raise this issue," Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the opposition Congress in parliament's lower house, told local media.

The Trinamool Congress, a second opposition party, said it would move a similar motion in the a session of India's parliament, that began on Monday.

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Pegasus: India parliament opens amid furore over Pegasus 'lies'


Mon, January 31, 2022

PM Modi's government is facing fresh allegations of buying Israeli spyware

India's parliament opened amid a political storm over fresh allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government bought Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to snoop on its critics.

The New York Times reported on Friday that India acquired Pegasus from Israel as part of a defence deal in 2017.

Similar allegations emerged last year, and the government had denied them.

Opposition parties are now accusing the government of lying to parliament and misleading the house.

The main opposition Congress has called for a "privilege motion" in parliament - used in instances when members are accused of committing a breach of privilege - against information and technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for "deliberately misleading the House".

Why Pegasus' snooping threatens India's democracy

"The government, on the floor of the House, always maintained that it had nothing to do with the Pegasus spyware and it never bought the spyware from the NSO Group... in light of the revelations… it appears that the Modi government has misled the parliament and the Supreme Court," Congress' leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, wrote in a letter to the Speaker.

The allegations are expected to result in a heated debate as parliament assembles for a joint session of both houses. This comes ahead of the annual budget, which will be tabled on Tuesday, and days before five states go to the polls to elect a new government.

A fresh plea seeking a police investigation has been filed in the Supreme Court, which began an inquiry into the matter when allegations first emerged last year.
What are the allegations?

Last year, Indian media outlet The Wire reported that some 160 Indians, including prominent activists, lawyers and politicians, were spied on using the Pegasus malware.

Pegasus infects iPhones and Android devices, allowing operators to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones.

An investigation by a global consortium of media outlets showed how the malware was used by governments around the world to hack phones of dissidents. The targets' phone numbers were on a database believed to be of interest to clients of Israeli firm NSO.

It's unclear where the list came from or how many phones were hacked - and NSO has denied any wrongdoing. It said the software was intended for tracking criminals and terrorists and was only sold to military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies from countries with good human rights records.

NSO was also accused of cyber attacks against Indian journalists and activists in 2019 - NSO Group denied the allegations.

Mr Modi's visit to Israel was followed by a rare trip to India by Mr Netanyahu

But the New York Times reported on Friday that Pegasus and a missile system were the "centrepieces" of a roughly $2bn deal that took place between India and Israel in 2017 when Mr Modi made his first trip to the country. The visit - and a subsequent one by Mr Netanyahu the following year - marked a significant turn in India's relationship with Israel.

The fresh allegations sparked a political storm, with opposition leaders demanding answers from Mr Modi.

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi accused the government of treason, and Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of acting "like the enemies of India".


What has Mr Modi 's government's said?

The government has denied that it ordered any unauthorised surveillance.

Last year, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had called the allegations a "sensational" attempt "to malign Indian democracy and its well established institutions" - he told parliament in September that the government "has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies".

But there has been no statement from Mr Modi or his ministers since the latest allegations emerged. Opposition politicians have questioned the government's "silence" on the issue and demanded that Mr Modi address the country.

In September, the Supreme Court set up a panel to look into the allegations after the government repeatedly failed to respond to its questions, citing national security. The court had said the government had left it with "no option but to accept the prima facie case made out by the petitioners".

USW Rejects Marathon's Most Recent Proposal, Offers 24-Hour Rolling Extensions to Current Oil Agreements

PR Newswire

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 1, 2022

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers union (USW) announced today that it rejected Marathon Petroleum's most recent proposal for a pattern settlement on wages, benefits and working conditions for approximately 30,000 USW members in the oil and petrochemical industry. The union then offered rolling 24-hour extensions of the current labor agreements.

"USW members were on the front lines of the pandemic, ensuring that our nation could meet its energy needs while company executives were safely tucked away, working from home," said USW International President Tom Conway. "Management needs to finally come to the table ready to negotiate a deal that reflects our members' hard work, commitment and sacrifice."

The USW has been in talks with Marathon, which represents industry as its lead negotiator, since Jan. 13. The current national agreement expired at midnight on Feb. 1.

"Our members remain strong and united in their commitment to reaching a deal that meets their needs on wages, benefits, health and safety and more," said Mike Smith, who chairs the USW's National Oil Bargaining Program. "We call on Marathon to demonstrate the same urgency."

The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.

Virginia shipyard, union reach tentative contract agreement


Steve Helber

The Associated Press
Mon, January 31, 2022, 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Virginia’s largest industrial employer and a key player in the U.S. Navy’s modernization efforts has reached a tentative five-year contract with its biggest union.

The agreement with Newport News Shipbuilding and the United Steelworkers Local 8888 comes after the latter’s members rejected an earlier pact late last year, the Daily Press of Newport News reported.

Both agreements called for annual pay increases.

Union spokesman Dwight Kirk said the latest deal represents an enhancement over the rejected agreement but declined to provide details on the wage stipulations. Kirk said the union planned briefing the 12,000 workers in its collective bargaining union before they’re asked to vote on it.

Kirk also said the agreement includes pension improvements, a cap on health care costs union members pay and the first benefit involving domestic partners.

Newport News Shipbuilding spokesman Danny Hernandez confirmed the tentative agreement was reached Friday.

“In the coming week, we will post the tentative agreement terms, including wage, health care, and pension information to ensure all employees have a complete and accurate understanding of the agreement prior to the upcoming employee vote. Meanwhile, we are pleased that the union is continuing to honor all current contract terms and conditions and that we continue to meet our mission in building ships for the U.S. Navy,” Hernandez said in a statement to Defense News.

About 25,000 people work at Newport News Shipbuilding, which builds and refuels all the Navy’s aircraft carriers and builds nuclear-powered submarines. A strike hasn’t occurred at the shipbuilding yard since 1999, the newspaper said.

The shipyard is critical to the Navy’s top modernization program — the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, according to the newspaper. With a $2.2 billion contract, Newport News shipbuilders are working to build portions of the new boats.

Israel calls on Amnesty not to release apartheid report







1 / 7
 Palestinians use a ladder to climb over the separation barrier with Israel on their way to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, July 11, 2014. Israel on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, called on Amnesty International not to publish an upcoming report accusing it of apartheid, saying the conclusions of the London-based international human rights group are “false, biased and antisemitic.”

 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)

Mon, January 31, 2022

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Monday called on Amnesty International not to publish an upcoming report accusing it of apartheid, saying the conclusions of the London-based international human rights group are “false, biased and antisemitic.”

Amnesty is expected to join the New York-based Human Rights Watch and the Israeli rights group B'Tselem in accusing Israel of the international crime of apartheid based on its nearly 55-year military occupation of lands the Palestinians want for a future state and because of its treatment of its own Arab minority.

Israel dismissed the other reports as biased, but is adopting a much more adversarial stance this time around. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has said Israel expects intensified efforts this year to brand it as an apartheid state in international bodies and hopes to head them off.

In a statement issued Monday, he said Amnesty “is just another radical organization which echoes propaganda, without seriously checking the facts," and that it “echoes the same lies shared by terrorist organizations.”

“Israel isn’t perfect, but we are a democracy committed to international law, open to criticism, with a free press and a strong and independent judicial system," Lapid said.

Amnesty did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Amnesty's report “denies the state of Israel’s right to exist as the nation state of the Jewish people.”

“Its extremist language and distortion of historical context were designed to demonize Israel and pour fuel onto the fire of antisemitism,” it added.

Neither Human Rights Watch nor B’Tselem compared Israel to South Africa, where an apartheid system based on white supremacy and racial segregation was in place from 1948 until the early 1990s. Instead, they evaluate Israel’s policies based on international conventions like the Rome Statute, which defines apartheid as “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group.”

They argue that Israel’s various policies in the territories under its control are aimed at preserving a Jewish majority in as much of the land as possible by systematically denying basic rights to Palestinians. Israel says its policies are aimed at ensuring the survival and security of the world’s only Jewish state.

The International Criminal Court is already investigating potential war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian militants in the occupied territories. After last year’s Gaza war, the U.N. Human Rights Council set up a permanent commission of inquiry to investigate abuses in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, including “systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.”

Israel has accused both the ICC and the U.N. rights body of being biased against it.